lAlJIIl.Mt.S    AM)   rK(l  ^l^f;|l   l.\   KI'ViI,    W     i.VCl-.WKs.   I.v   iJiil. 


THE 


DISCOVERY  AND  CONQUESTS 


-OP- 


THE  NORTHWEST 


INCLUDING   Tlli: 


EARLY     HISTORY     OF    CHICAGO,   DETROIT,    VIN- 

CENXES,  ST.  LOUIS,  FT.  WAYNE,  PRAIRIE 

DlCHIEN,  marietta,  CINCINNATI 

CLEVELAND,   ETC.,   ETC. 


AND  INCIDENTS  OF  PIONEER  LII-    IN  THE  REGION  OF  THE 
GREAT  LAKES  AND  THE  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY. 


By  EUFUl?  CLANCHARD. 


CHIOAGO: 
GUSHING,  THOMAS  &  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS, 

1880. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  iSSi, 

By  Rufus  Blanchard, 
in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Spain  took  the  lead  in  settling  the  New  "World.  The 
West  India  Islands,  Peru,  Mexico  and  Florida  were  Spanish 
provinces  before  any  other  nation  had  obtained  even  a  foothold 
in  the  great  Western  inheritance  of  Nature.  But  these  first 
Spanish  adventurers  were  too  riclily  rewarded  with  gold  not  to 
intoxicate  the  brains  of  the  nation.  Despising  the  slow  process 
of  agriculture  as  a  means  of  wealth,  they  wasted'  their  strength 
in  searching  for  gold  wherever  they  went,  and  left  the  fairest 
portions  of  America  to  be  colonized  by  France  and  England. 
France  pushed  her  settlements  up  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  and 
ultimately  into  the  country  of  the  great  chain  of  lakes  and  the 
entire  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  with  a  view  of  holding  the  great 
channels  of  American  commerce,  while  the  English,  at  random, 
set  their  foot  upcni  the  Atlantic  coast,  without  any  plans  for  the 
future.  It  is  seldom  that  great  national  expectations  are  fulfilled, 
and  the  ultimate  destiny  of  America  is  no  exception  to  this 
almost  universal  rule.  Year  after  year  the  English  colonists 
toiled  in  contentment  along  the  eastern  fringe  of  the  continent, 
hardly  beyond  the  hearing  of  the  waters  that  beat  against  their 
narrow  foothold  in  the  New  World.  What  was  beyond  these 
confines  they  knew  not,  nor  liad  they  time  to  incpiire,  for  other 
work  was  oefore  them.  Across  the  ocean  they  had  unconsci<  )usly 
borne  the  elements  of  a  great  nation.  These  had  to  be  phiiitcd 
on  a  new  soil  and  cultivated  into  a  vigorous  growth.  While  this 
planting  season  \*as  in  progress,  the  French,  with  far-reaching 
ainbition,  were  strengthening  their  positions  in  the  interior  by 
buildhig  forts  and  establishing  friendlv  relations  with  the  Indians. 

No    rivalship  between  th"  two  nations  was  manifested  at 


4  Introduction. 

first,  but  ultimately  the  religion  and  State  policy  of  France  was 
destined  to  come  into  conipetitioji  with  these  same  elements  in 
the  workings  of  the  English  mind.  The  latter  prevailed  after 
a  long  and  apparently  even-matched  warfare,  and  the  hopes  of 
France  were  dashed  to  the  ground.  Tlie  English  Hag  now 
waved  over  lake,  river,  and  coast,  wherever  beginnings  had  been 
made,  bnt  their  triumph  had  but  a  transient  tenure.  A  new 
idea  seizes  upon  the  minds  of  men.  and  a  new  flag  springs  into 
existence.  The  English  in  turn  are  driven  fi'oiu  our  soil,  and 
only  the  Indians,  its  natural  inheritors,  left  to  contend  against  the 
Americans.  A  prolonged  struggle  ensned  on  their  part  for 
existence,  and  on  ours  for  advancement.  Many  complex  con- 
ditions were  brought  into  the  issue.  The  early  French  relations 
to  the  Indians  ;  their  inter-nuirriages  and  consequent  sympathy 
for  them  ■,  the  fur  trade  and  its  medley  of  associations,  evil  and 
good  ;  the  partially  successful  missionary  efforts  both  of  the 
French  Koman  Catholic  Fathers^  and  of  the  United  Bretliren,  or 
Moravi'^ns.  A^l  these  brought  a  charm  of  romance  into  the 
ever  open  chasm  between  the  pioneer  soldiers  and  the  tenacious 
Indians,  Slowly  and  sadly  the  latter  retreated  forever  fi-oni  the 
blood-stained  soil,  and  few  of  their  offspring  are  left  among  the 
living  of  to-day.  Neither  their  courage,  nor  their  murderous 
revenge  could  save  them,  and  what  has  been  a  loss  to  them  (but 
a  few  in  number),  has  been  a  gain  to  the  millions  who  now  own 
the  soil. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  the  ambition 
of  man  been  stimulated  to  such  an  extent  as  here.  The 
jurists,  the  schoolmasters,  and  the  ministers  of  New  England  and 
Virginia  followed  the  host  of  pioneers  to  the  new  field  where  all 
the  appliances  of  civilization  were  to  be  built  and  the  timber 
taken  from  the  stump.  During  this  process  the  stream  of  wealth 
has  more  than  kept  pace  with  expectation,  till  we  now  find  our 
selves  equal  in  rank  and  inliuence  with  the  older  States  of  the 
Union.  For  this  position  we  are  partly  indebted  to  recruits  from 
all  the  enlightened  nations  of  Europe.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  we  are  made  up  of  the  activity  and  enterprise  of  the 
world  as  it  brinnned  over  its  confines  at  home  and  found  a 
broader  field  here  for  its  action. 

"The    West,"      "Western,"      "Western    characteristics," 


Introduction.  5 

are  significant  expressions.      They  mean  dash,  spirit,  elasticity, 

resolution,  and  hope.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  these  are  the  prom- 
inent traits  of  a  people  whose  star  of  destiny  has  so  suddenly 
risen  to  the  zenith ;  of  a  people  nurtured  into  confidence  in 
themselves  by  an  almost  unremitting  tide  of  advancement  in 
every  tiling  which  constitutes  national  grandeur,  except  the  fin- 
ishing touches  of  art  and  science,  which  are  yet  to  be  perfected. 

While  these  conditions  have  grown  upon  us  in  our  progress 
down  the  highways  of  time,  we  have  laid  upon  ourselves  heavy 
burdens  by  premature  legislation,  not  unlike  those  of  tlie  erratic 
sallies  of  childhood.  Wiser  counsels  must  come  to  our  rescue 
to  make  amends  for  these,  just  as  the  well-digested  thoughts  of 
maturity  i-ecast  the  images  of  youth. 

Breathing  time  has  now  come  to  view  the  ground  over  which 
we  have  traveled,  doubly  endeared  to  us,  because  we  ourselves 
were  the  first  to  take  possession  of  it,  and  because  we  fashioned 
its  institutions  after  our  own  model.  That  our  history  rises  in 
importance  as  we  assume  larger  proportions  in  the  body  politic, 
is  manifested  by  the  eagerness  with  which  every  thing  pertain- 
ing to  the  early  records  of  the  West  is  sought  after,  and  by  the 
increasing  number  of  Historical  Societies  springing  up  through- 
out the  country,  for  the  preservation  of  these  precious  relics. 

Tiie  rival  interests  of  nations,  complicated  with  religious  and 
social  conditions,  produce  war,  and  the  province  of  the  historian 
is  not  circumscribed  to  the  details  of  the  battle-field.  These  are 
but  the  means  by  which  the  passions  and  sympathies  of  nations 
achieve  their  ends.  Hence,  history,  without  reference  to  issues 
and  contingencies,  is  only  a  bundle  of  facts,  packed  into  the 
leaves  of  a  book  too  tightly  for  the  wedge  of  inquiry  to  let  liglit 
shine  between  them.  If  the  historian  has  failed  to  introduce  to 
his  readers  the  motive  power  that  lets  loose  the  dogs  of  war,  his 
book  will  be  like  the  play  of  "Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left  out." 
That  history  has  taken  the  first  place  in  literature,  is  due  to  the 
exhaustless  character  of  its  subjects,  among  which  ma;/  be  found 
truths  which  foreshadow  the  future  from  the  past,  and  leave  a 
more  abiding  impression  than  the  teachings  of  fiction. 

Th£  Authoo. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Jacques  Cartier  exjplores  the  tit.  Lcnorence  River — Settlement  of 
Quebec — Discovery  of  Lake  Charivplain — Expedition  against 
the  Iroquois — Dutch  settlement  at  Jlbamj — Discovery  of  Lake 
Huron — The  Falls  of  St.  Mary  reached — The  French  take 
formal  possessiott  of  the  country — Discovery  of  the  Mississip- 
pi Biver — TheFictured  Hocks — Disrovery  of  the  Chicago  Fort- 
age — Marquette  winters  at  Chicago — IVif  Indians'  ajf'ection 
for  him — Feliyious  services  on  the  praines — Death  of  Mar- 
quette— The  removal  of  his  remains  to  St.  Ignace — IDs  Jour- 
nal— Late  discovery  of  his  bones. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Ft.  Catarauqui  built  at  the  Outlet  of  Lake  Ontario — La  Salle 
arricts  in  Canada — His  Ambitiotis  Flans — He  builds  a  Ves- 
sel for  JV^avigating  the  Lakes — He  sails  for  Green  Fay,  and 
is  sent  back  Laden  with  Furs — La  Scdle  anives  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Joseph  and  builds  a  Fort — Goes  to  the  Illinois 
Fiver  and  commences  Building  a  Vessel  to  Explore  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  its  Mouth — Hennepin  starts  to  E^rplore  the  Upper 
Mississippi — His  Captivity— Du  Lhut  among  the  Sioux — La 
Salle  returns  to  Canada  to  raise  Becruits — Bad  j^eics  from 
Ft.  Creve-Goeur — Betrilnition — Iroquois  Invasion  of  the  Illi- 
nois Country — Indian  Trading  Policy — Desperate  Exploit  of 
Tonty — Council  with  the  Western  Tribes — La  Salle's  Flans 
Besumed — Success. 

CHAPTER  III. 

La  Salle  Betums  to  the  Illinois  Country — Ft.  St.  Louis  Built 
-  L:i Salle  leasves  Tonty  in  Command  of  Ft.  St.  Louis,  and 
Starts  for  France — Tonty  Urijustly  Sup)erseded  in.  Command 
by  La  Barre,  the  New  Governor  of  Canada — La  Salle  at 
theCourtfor  Lotiis  XLV. — La  Barre  Becalled — Tonty  Be- 
stored  to  Command — La  Salle  furnished  with  a  Fleet  to  Sail 
for  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississip>p)i  and  Establish  a  Colony— 
The  Fleet  passes  it.<i  Destination,  and  Lands  on  the  Coast  of 
Texas — Treachery  of  Beaujeu — La  Salle  Builds  a  Fort — His 


"Vessels  Lost — Desperate  Condition  of  the  Colony — La  Salle 
starts  Across  the  Wilds  for  the  Illinois  Covmtry — Lie  is  As- 
sassinated on  the  Way — Tlte  Murderers  fall  upon  each  other 
— Return  of  Cavelier  and  His  Party — Tonifs  Fort  on  the 
ArJcccnsas — Mendacious  Concealment  of  La  Salle's  Death — 
Iherville  and  Bienville  nuike  a  Settlement  at  the  Mouth  of 
Mississippi — Analysis  of  the  Enylish  Colonies, 

CHAPTER  lY. 

F'i*'st  passage  through  the  Detroit  River — A  Stone  Statue  found 
there— English,  on  the  Upptr  Lakes — Settlement  of  Detroit — 
The  Foxes  Attack  the  Place — Mission  of  FatJier  Mar<iuette 
at  AliGhilimachinac — Cahokia  and  Kaskashia  Settled — Ft. 
Chartres —  Yincennes  Settled — Comparison,  of  the  \English 
with  the  French  Colonies — The  Paris  Convention  to  Establish 
the  Line  between  the  English  and  E^rench  in  America — 
Convention  at  Albany — The  Ohio  Company — The  L^rench 
Build  F'orts  on  French  Creek — Gov.  Dinwiddie  sends  Wash- 
ington to  Warn  them  out  of  the  Country — The  Ohio  Company 
send  Trent  to  Build  a  Fort  where  Pittsburgh  now  stands — 
Lie  is  driven  avjay  by  the  French— Washington  sent  to  the 
Frontier — Lie  Attack^  the  French — Retreats — Builds  Ft. 
Necessity — The  Fort  taken  by  the  French. 

CIIAPT!-:]!  \. 

General  Braddock  aiTimes  in  America — Plan  of  the  First  Cam- 
oaign — Baron  Dieskau  reaches  Canada — Braddock  marches 
against  Ft.  Duqiiesne — His  Defeat — ■Ecpedition  to  Acadia 
— Shirley  starts  to  take  E^t.  Niagara— J ohnson^ s  Campaign 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  George — Defeat  of  Dieskati — L.ord 
LAnidon  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  English  for- 
ces— Gen.  Montcalm  appointed  to  cornmand  the  French  forces 
— English  and  French  Policy  and  Diphnnacy — 3lontcahn 
takes  Oswego — Ljmdon^s  Expedition  starts  to  attack  Louis- 
hurg — L'^t.  William  Henry  taken  by  Montcalm — Loudon,  re- 
called and  Gen.  Abererombie  put  in  his  pliice — Louisburq 
taken  by  Admiral  Boscawen — Gen.  Abercromhie  attacks  Ti- 
conderoga — Gen.  Bradstreet  takes  Ft.  L^rontenac — Gen. 
Forbes'  Expeclition  against  Ft.  Duquesne — Mission  of  Chris- 
tian Frederic  P<j.d — 7'7.  Duquesne  LJvacniated  and  taken  pos- 
session <fby  L\>rbes — Gen.  Aberc7'ombie  recalled  and  Gen. 
Amherst  put  in  his  place — Ft.  Niagara  taken  by  Gen.  John- 
son— Ticonderogo  and  Crown  Point  Evacuated — Quebec 
taken  hy  Gen.  Wolfe — Canada  and  the  West  given  up  to  tlie 
English. 


Co.NTKNT.S. 


CHAPTER  YI. 


lioqers  sent  hy  Gen.  Antherst  to  take  Possession  of  Detroit — 
lie  meets  Pontiac  on  the  way — Holds  a  Colloquy  with  him — 
Detroit  GaTrisoned  hy  the  Eri^lish,  under  Capt.  Camphell 
— Discontent  of  the  Indians — Alexander  Henry  ho'^rives  at 
MichilimacJdna<; — Conspiracy  to  drive  the  English  out  of  the 
Cotintry — Detroit  saved  from.  Massacre  hy  an  Ojihway  Girl 
— Is  Besieged — 3Iassacre  at  Middlimaclcinac — Narrow  Es- 
<mpe  of  Alexander  Henry — St.  Joseph,  Ouatanon,  Iliami, 
<xnd  Sandusky  taken  hy  the  Indians — Capture  of  the  Batieau 
Fleet  sent  to  Succor  Detroit — Horiihle  Massacre  of  the  Sol- 
diers— Detroit  Believed — Arrival  of  Caj)t.  Dalzell — His 
Dimstroas  Sortie — Desperate  Defense  of  a  Vessel  loaded 
with  Supplies — Pontiac  retires  to  the  Maumee  Bapids. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Ft.  Pitt  Besieged  hy  the  IridAans — Fate  of  Fts.  Presque  Isle^ 
le  Ikeuf.  and  Yenango — Col.  Bouquet  marclies  to  the  Belief 
of  Ft.  Pitt — Battle  (f  Bushy  Bun — Ge7i.  Amherst  re-signs 
his  position  as  Commander-in-Chief  and  Gen.  Gage  is  ap- 
point ed  his  successerr — Sir^Ym.  Johnson  calls  an  Indian  Con- 
'ventiun  at  Niagara — Gen.  Bradstreet  marches  to  the  Belief 
of  Detroit— Col.  Bouquet  invades  the  Indian  Country  on  tlie 
Jiud'ingum  Birer- — llolds  a  Council  with  the  Indians — De- 
irmnd-^  the  Bendition  ef  Captives — Passionate  emotions  of 
f>r<'d  life — Preliminaries  (f  Peace — The  Army  returns  to 
iJbt  frontier  settlements  in  Pennsylvania  with  206  returned 
<'aptives. 

CHAPTER   Till. 

The  Illinois  Country — Slavery — The  Lead  Trade — LaClede^a 
Grant — Ft.  (Jhartres — Settlement  of  St.  Louis — Louisians 
ceded  to  Spai)i — The  English,  under  Major  Loftvs,  att< mnt 
to  p:netrate  to  the  Illinois  Country  hy  way  of  the  Mi-'<-s>s- 
sippi — xire  repulsed — Geo.  Croghan — He  advances  to  the 
Illinois  Country — Is  tcdicn  prisoner — Is  released — IIoid!<  a 
Council  icithhiK  Indian  captors,  and  h'ings  them  to  terms 
favorahle  to  the  English— -Items  from  his  Journal — The 
Illinois  Cenintry  taken  possession  of  hy  Captain  Stcrlijuj 
—Proclamntion  of  Gen.  Gage — Earli/  Governors  of  the 
Illinois  Country — Pontiac  in  CouncU  with  Sir  M''illiam 
•Johnson — He  resigntt  hi-s  andjiti^mx  designs — His  death  and 
its  consequences — Chicago,  tlie  Ind'ua  Chief. 


C02<TKNTS, 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  English  attempt  to  wevent  Settlements  heyond'  the  Ohio 
Iliver — Early  Commercial  Policy — The  JS'ortmcest  annexed 
to  Canada — Battle  of  Point  Pleasant — Logan — lievolu- 
tionanj  Sentiments  on,  the  Frontier — Girty,  Elliot  and 
McKee — The  Continental  Congress — The  Issve  among  the 
Indians — Expeditions  against  St.  Joseph — George  Rogers 
Clark — His  Expedition  against  the  Illinois  Country  and 
Yincennes — Indian  Council  at  Cahokia — Father  Gihault — 
Francis  Yigo — War  Declared  Between  England  and  Sjyain 
—  Its  effect  on  the  Illinois  Country. 

CHAPTEK  X. 

Moravian  Settlements  on  the  MusMngum — Premonitions  of 
the  American  Pevohition — British  Eniissanes  Among  the 
Indians^Forts  Jlclntosh  and  Laurens  Built — Desperate 
Attack  on  the  Latter — The  Siege  Raised  hy  Hunger — The 
Moravians  Removed — Mary  Ileckv^elder s  Account — Horri- 
ble Slaughter  of  the  Eddies — Crawford's  Exj)edition  Against 
Sandusky — The  Enemy  Encountered  —  Cravford  Taken 
Pris'oner — His  Awful  Death  by  Fire — Peace —  Complex  Di- 
plomacy at  the  Treaty  of  Paris — Firmness  of  Jay  Tri- 
umphant. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Characteristics  and  Costume  of  the  Virainia  Border  Men  and 
the  Neio  England  Pioneers — The  Ohio  Company  Formed — 
Marietta  Settled — Cession  of  the  Northwest  to  the  United 
States — Symes^  Purchase — Columbia^  JS^orth  Btnd  and  Cin- 
ciniuiti  Settled — Emigration  in  Arks — The  British  on  the 
Lakes — Their  Relations  with  the  Indians — St.  Clair  Arrives 
at  Marietta  as  Governor  of  the  Northviest  Territory — Courts 
Established  —  Harrner  Invades  the  Indian  Country — The 
French  and  Indian,  Villages  on  the  Wabash  Destroyed. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Little  Turtle — His  Masterly  Abilities— Privations  of  the  Early 
Settlers — St.  Clmr''s  Expedition  against  the  Indians — His 
Defeat — Its  Cames — He  Resigns  —  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne 
Succeeds  him — Peace  Commimioners  on  the  Canada  Border — 
The  Indians  claim  the  Ohio  River  as  a  Boundary  Line 
between  Themselves  and  the  Whites — The  Terms  Inadmissible 
and  the  Council  a  Failure. 


Contents. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Genet,  the  Minister  of  the  New  French  BepuWic^  Sent  to  the- 
United  States — Ahiise  of  his  Poicer  Danget'ous  to  America — 
He  is  Recalled  at  the  iierj^uest  of  Jef'ev son— General  Wayne 
marches  against  the  Indians — Builds  Fort  Jtecovery — The 
Indians  Attack  the  Place — Are  Pepulscd — Evidence  <f  En- 
glish Complicity  loithtJie  Indian  Cause — General  Wayne  Ad- 
vances to  the  St.  Mary's  River — Sends  Peace  Pr-posals  to 
Little  Turtle — He  wishes  to  accept  them.  Ijut  is  Overruled  in 
the  Council — A  Decisive  Battle  Ensues— General  Wayne  un- 
der the  Guns  of  the  English  Fort — The  English  Commander- 
Takes  Offense — An  angry  Correspondence  Ensues — English 
Vieio  of  the  Case — Fort  Wayne  BuiU — Treaty  of  Greenville — • 
Little  Turtle's  Honorahle  Record — His  death — Piddic  Honors 
to  his  Memory — The  Free  Navigation  of  the  Mississij)pi 
conceded  hy  Spain —  The  English  give  up  the  American 
Posts  on  the  Lakes — CleveUmd  Settled. 


CHAPTEK  Xiy. 

William  Henry  Harrison;  His  Ancestry  and  Birth — Is  ap- 
pointed Governor  of  the  Indian  Territory — Sjpanish  posses- 
sion of  Louisiana — jVa2)ole07i's  Amhitious  Designs  Shown- 
hy  the  Conquest  of  St.  Poniingo^  and  hy  the  Purchase  of  Lou- 
isiana from  Spain— French  Designs  Frustrated  hy  t)o'  En- 
glish— Purchase  of  Louisiana  hy  the  United^  States — Conse- 
quent Necessity  of  a  Fort  on  tJie  Upp>er  Lakes — St.  Josephs 
Chorea  for  its  Locality — The  Indians  Ohject  to  its  Erectwrb 
— Chicago  Next  Selected — The  Fort  Built  Here — Margaret 
and  Elizaheth,  the  Captives — Their  Adventures,  and  what 
grew  out  of  Them — Jimn  Kiiizie — His  Youthful  Life — He-. 
Settles  in  Chicago — The  Fur  Trade  and  the  I^ngagee. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Governor  Har)*ison''s  Efforts  to  Eiftinguish  Indian  Titles  to- 
Lands — Indian  Discontents — Temimseh  — The  Prophet  — 
Tecumseh^s  Interview,  with  Harrison — Its  Threatening  As- 
pect — Tecumseh^s  Attempt  to  Form  a  Conftderacy — HaiTi- 
son  Marches  into  the  Indian  Country — Encamps  at  Tippe- 
canoe— The  Prophet  Attacks  Him — Is  Defeated — Tevumseh^s-- 
Plans  Fritstrated  hy  the  Battle — The  Territory  ef  lUinovn 
Organised — Ninian  Edwards  Appointed  Governor. 


CONTKNTS. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Jfays  Tv<iaty  of  179^ — Its  Bencfiekd  Effects — Decrees  of  Berlin 
toiil  Milan — Betaliatory  English  Orders— The  Continental 
S>/st-em — Ame'rica  Victimizi-d  hy  it — The  Emlargo  and  non- 
Jiif.ereoiirse  Acts — Fruitless  Najotiation  hetween  England 
Kind  the  United  States — Complications  with  France — Tlte 
French  Decrees  Revol'cd — Tke  United  States  Declare  ^Yar 
Against  England — The  British:  on  the  Tales — General  II idl 
limches  Detroit  v)ith  an  Army — Crosses  into  Canada — lie- 

.  connoisance  of  Colonel  Cass—  :'irst  Hostile  Shot  in.  the  War 
of  1812 — General  Ilidl  Betnrns  to  Detroit— jSIAchiUmacinac 
Talxcn  hy  the  English — Tecum:^'hi  in  the  British  Service — 
Indian  Raid  on  Ted's  Place — Panic  cd  Chicago — General 
Hull  at  Detroit — He  Crosses  the  River  into  Canada — His 
Perjplexities — His  Sunxndcr. 


CHAPTEE  XYII. 

I^orf  Dearlorn  in  Danger — Its  Evacuation  ordered  hy  General 
Hull- — Winnemac,  the  Friendly  Jlessenger  —  Vacillating 
I'olicy  (f  Captain  Heald.  the  Commander — InflexibHity  of 
Ensign  Ronan — J<din  Kin:ue^  his  Wise  Co^insd— Council 
trdh  the  Pottatcattomi.es — Bad  Faith,  of  Captai})  Ileedd  in 
tin'  Destruction  of  Arms,  etc. —  llonorahh:  Coifession  (f 
Blacl'  Partridge — Arrival  of  a  Heroic  Friend — The  Fort 
Evacuated — Indian  Tratchery — J//'v.  Ilelni's  GrajMc  Ac- 
count of  the  Massacre  which  fdhnced. 


CHAPTER  XYIII. 

The  British  tal'e  the  Offensive— -Fort  Wayne  Beseiged  hy  their 
Indian  Allies— Timely  Wa/'ning  to  its  Defenders — General 


_- _ ^aptait.    , _,   „ 

son  at  Fort  Wayne— Its  B(Keigers  fy— Expedition  Against 
the  Indian  Towns  on  the  Illinois  River — Its  Bootless  Ter- 
inination^Governoi'  Reynolds  in  the  Ranhs — His  Statement 
— Relentless  Attacl'  on  Peoria — The  English  on  the  Upper 
J^ississippi — Black  HawVs  Historical  JVarration. 


Contents. 

CHAPTEK  XIX. 

General  Harrison  Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  N'ortli- 
western  Ar?ny — 2en  Thousaiul  Men  Raised  to  Reclaim.  De- 
troit and  Invade  Canada — A  Wilderness  of  Mud  Interposes 
between  the  Combatants — General  Winchester  Reach:s  the 
Rapids  of  the  Maumee — Advances  to  French  Town,  on  the 
River  Raisin — Battle  of  the  River  Raisin.  Ending  in  De- 
feat, Capitulation  and  Treacherous  Sla/aqhtcr  of  War  Pris- 
oners— Fort  Meigs  Built  at  th'  luipids — General  Proctor 
Advances  Against  the  Place — Desperate  Attach  and  Sioccess- 
ful  Defense  of  the  Post — Tht  Britiidi  Ri  treat  and  Attack 
Ft.  Stephenson — The  Masked  Six-pounder  and  its  Fatal 
Effects—Ronte  of  the  British — The  War  Transferred  to  Can- 
ada— Jhe  Am encanWar  Fleet  Sails  from  Ene — The  jVaral 
Battle — The  Amoncan  Army  in  Cahada — Battle  of  the 
TJiames — Tecumseh  Slain- -Michigan  Reclaimed — Peace. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Great  West  as  a  New  Arena  for  Progress — Religions  Free- 
dom— Its  Effects — Distnhutive  Versns  Concentrated  learn- 
ing— Out  a  oilman  Pedigree  and  Its  Effects — The  lakes  a 
llighiray  to  the  West — Fort  Dearborn  Rebuilt — PnHminary 
Survey  for  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Caned — Jnhn  Kinsie 
Returns  to  Chicago — Indian  Treaty  Relinquishing  Lands 
from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River — Illinois  Admitted  Into 
the  Union  as  a  Sovereign  State — Its  Northern  Bovndary 
E'dendtd — Reasons  for  it — Chicago  the  Central  Key  of 
the  Nation. 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Fur  Trade  of  Canada  Under  a  French  Charter — The 
Huguenot  Sailors — Dutch  Rivalry — The  Iludson  Bay  Com- 
pany—The Northwest  Company  Its  Rival — The  Two  Co7n- 
panies  Merged  into  One — The  Amencan  Fur  Company 
under  John  Jacob  Astor — Astoria.  Founded,  and  Taken  by 
the  Iludson  Bay  Company — Mr.  Astor  Begins  Anew  at 
Mackinaw  —  Hardihood  of  the  Engagees—The  American 
Fur  Company  Establish  a  Branch  at  Chicago — Gurdon  S. 
Hubbard  as  Clerk  for  the  Amencan  Fur  Company— Arrives 
at  Chicago — His  Report  of  the  Place — De>*cends  the  Des- 
plaines — His  Report  of  the  Indians  and  their  Wigwams — 
Hostile  Repartee  ivith  an  Indian — The  Factory  System — 
First  Wedding  in  Chicago — Great  Indian  Treaty  at  Chi- 
cago— Governor  Cass  Opens  the  Council — Three  Thousand 
Indians  Eat  Rations  at  Government  Expense — Speech  of 
Metea — Colonel  E.  Childs''  Description  cf  the  Country. 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

The  Name  Chicago  First  A2>l>ears  on  School  Atlases — The 
MysteHes  Beyond — Adveiitures  of  James  Galloway  and 
What  Grew  ont  of"  Them  —  Antral  of  the  i'lyhourns  at 
Chicago — Chicago  Surveyed,  and  Laid  Out  in  Village  Lots 
— The  Winnebago  Scare — The  Lllinois  and  Michigan  Ca- 
nal Located  —  Civil  Jiistory  of  Early  Chicago  —  County 
Organization  —  Adjacent  Settlements  —  David  McKee's 
Narration. 

CHAPTEE  XXIII. 

The  Wimiehagoes,  the  Pottawatomies,  and  the  Sacs  and  FoTes 
in  1S32 — Black  Haivk^s  Village  and  Coriifield  Purchased 
hy  tJie  Whites^T^orhearance  of  the  Indians — A  Transient 
Compromise — Governor  Reynolds  Calls  for  Volunteers  to 
Drive  Away  the  Indians — They  lletire  Across  the  Missis- 
sippi — Bad  Advice  of  White  Cloud,  the  Proj^het — Black 
Ilaick  Jxeturns  to  Illinois,  and  Camj)s  at  Sycamore  Creek — 
The  Dog  Feast — The  I\i.rsu'it — The  Alarm — Stillman^s  De- 
feat— Indian  Creeh  Massacre — Flight  of  the  Frontierers — 
General  Scott  Arrives  at  Detroit — The  Cholera  Among  his 
Men  —  He  An'ives  at  Chicago — Fearful  Parages  of  the 
Pestilence — Black  Hav:k\^  Fugitive  Skirmisher  in  Northern 
Illinois — His  Retreat— Battle  of  Bad  Axe — General  Scott 
Arrives  at  Fort  Armstro')ig — Black  Hawk  Brought  in  as  a 
Prisoner — The  War  Ended. 

CHAPTER  XXiy. 

■Chicago  as  Seen  hy  Philo  Carpenter  in  1832 — Eli  B.  Wil- 
Ivirns'  Report  of  Chicago  in  1833 — Cook  County  Organised 
— The  Town  of  Cliicago  Organized  under  a  Board  of  Trus- 
tees— The  Mouth  of  the  River  Opened — The  First  Puhlic 
Loan— Indian  Treaty  of  1830— Ditto  if  1833  at  Chicago- 
Graphic  Description  <f  Chicago  and  the  Treaty  hy  an  En- 
glim  Traveler — The  Indian  Titles  Extinguished — The  In- 
dians Removed. 

CHAPTER  XXY. 

The  Beauhiens — Pioneer  Hotel — Ingenious  Device  for  Lodg- 
ings—The Pioneer  Newspaper — Its  Suhscrij)tion  lAst — 
Wolfs  Point — Lts  lnhd)itants — Alexander  Rohinson — His 
Character — His  Wonderfid  Age — Shahonee — His  Character 
— Chicago  in  183 Ji. — Chicago  in  183o — Turning  the  First 
Sod  for  the  Canal — -Celehratiort  of  the  Event — fts  Conse- 
quences— TJie  Last  Records  of  Chicago  as  a  Town 


Contents.  15 

Chicago  Chartered  as  a  City. 

First  Mayor  Elected — ^YJ^{g  and  Democratic  Issue — Enlarge- 
ment of  the  City  in  Wards,  and  Extension  of  City  Limits. 

Officiai-  Record  of  Fort  Dearborn. 
Its  Locality — Last  Lielicts  Destroyed  in  the  Great  Eire. 

The  Chicago  Post  Office: 

Its  various  Localities — List  and  Ter;:'s  of  its  Post  Masters — 
Its  Revenue. 

The  Chicago  Harbor: 
Ajyprojyriations  to  Imjyrove  it — Lts  Present  Capacit/y. 

Convention   of   i86o: 

Its  Xatlonal  Charafter—Adai^tation  of  Chicago  to  its  Pe- 
i£uirenients — Abraham  .Lincoln  its  Choice — Lts  Results. 

The  Great  Chicago  Fire: 

i#<v  Origin — Area  hurnt  over — Amount  of  Property  Destroyed 
— A  jS^ight  of  Horrors — Victims  in  the  Open  Air — Elas- 
tic Force  of  the  City  Government — Generosity  of  American 
Towns  and  Cities — Europe  Resjtonds — The  Rebound — I'he 
Building  Mania. 

Grammar  of  American   Names, 

Analysis  of  Names  on  American  3faps — Indian  Names — 
Their  Meaning  and  Derivation. 

Diary    of    George    Washington     ox    his     Tour    to    the 

Ohio  in  1753; 

Shea''s  Lntroduotion  and  Notes  to  it — Young  Washington  meets 
th^  French  in  Cotmcil — Waims  them  out  of  the  Country — 
Returtn-  to  Virginia — His  Narrow  Etcape  from  Death,  and 
his  Sufferings  on  the  Route. 


LIST  OF    I  LLV  ST  RATIONS, 


'~.f 


:,rAPS, 

Fac  Simile  of  tlie  Autogra])!!  M-.x])  of  tlit;  Missist^ippi.  or  <!^oncep- 
tioii  Jtiver,  drawn  l>y  Fatlu-r  Marquette  at  tlie  time  ..f  hh 
yovai^e.  Frt^iii  the  oriii-inal,  preserved  in  St.  ^Mary's  C'ol- 
leice.  ^Montreal. 

Maj)  illustratinir  tlie  Discovery  <»f  the  ^N'orthwest,  and  the 
French  and  Tndian  AV'ai', 

Map  ilhistratinir  Pontiac's  "War,  and  tlie  Caiupaiijns  of  (len. 
Clarke.  Gov.  St.  (Mair.  Gen.  "Wayne,  and  (Jen.  Harrison. 

Map  of  Ghicajijo  in  is  12. 

Map  illustratin<r  tlie  Black  Hawk  AVai-,  i!i  1^32. 

Maj)  of  Northern  and  Central  Illinois,  in  1S35. 

Map  of  Chieai^o  Harbor,  in  ISSO. 

vji:wh;. 

Frontispiece — Gen.  Harrison  and  Teciimseli  in  Council  at  Yin- 
cenues.  in  1810. 

St.  Louis  in  18:53.  From  an  Oi-ii^-inal  I'ainting  by  Geo.  Catliii, 
in  jjoseession  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Association. 

Fort  Washin<irton  in  ITOO^Site  of  Cineiiniati. 

The  Old  Kinzie  House.  The  iirst  house  in  Chicago,  partly  built 
in  1796;  tiuished  and  occupied  by  John  Kinzie,  in  1804. 

Cinciimati  in  1810. 

Costumes,  Arms  and  Habitations  of  Early  Inhabitants. 

Cleveland  in  1833. 

Fort  "Wayne  in  1795. 

Marietta  in  1792. 

Battle  of  JJad  Axe.  1S32. 

Fort  Dearborn,  Chicago,  as  it  appeared  in  1853.  ' 

17 


CllAFTEli  I. 

Jdques  Cartier  explores  the  St-  Lmm'ence  River — Settlement 
•of  Quebec — Discover)/  of  Lake  Champlain — Expedition 
against  the  Iroquois — Dutch  settlement  at  Albany — Discov- 
ery of  Lake  Huron — The  Falls  of  St.  Mary  reached — The 
French  take  formal  possession  of  the  country — Discovery  of 
the  Mis-^issijypi  Rivvr — The  Pictured  Rocks — Discovery  of 
the  ChlcAKjo  Portaye — Marquette  vnnters  at  Chicago—  The 
Indians''  affection  for  him — RellgionB  servicer  on  the  prat- 
Ties— Death  of  Marquette.  The  removal  of  his  remains  tc 
St.  Ljnace — Ills  dournal — Late  discovery  of  his  bones. 

Far  in  the  depths  of  a  new  {"ontinent,  a  flat  lieatli  of  •waving 
grasses  is  ])iereed  l)y  a  small  tranquil  stream,  from  whose  unrip- 
pled  face  tlie  moonbeams  had  glittered  for  ages  in  silence. 

This  is  all  that  can  be  said  of  the  historj-  of  Chicago,  till  the 
white  man  visited  it,  and  learned  from  the  Indians  that  it  was  a 
convenient  portage  from  the  interior  to  the  lakes. 

When  Alexander  was  weeping  that  there  were  no  more  worlds 
to  conquer,  with  no  overstrain  of  the  imagination,  we  can  see 
the  Indian  securely  gliding  his  canoe  over  the  Chicago  river  into 
Lake  Michigan,  with  an  omni])otent  reliance  upon  his  own  skill 
and  courage,  to  protect  himself  from  the  greatest  conqueror  on 
earth,  and  it  is  diffi:!ult  to  tell  which  would  have  been  the  most 
surprised,  Alexander  or  the  Indians,  could  both  have  been  in- 
formed of  each  other. 

History  begiiib  with  mythology,  in  the  old  world, — in  the 
new,  on  an  immaculate  tablet,  simple  and  positive.  Here  the 
white  man  has  raised  his  altars  and  commenced  making  his 
record,  and  the  traditions  of  the  red  man  have  vanished  before 
him,  but  still  some  enduring  monuments  of  his  ncmienclature 


re  mam. 


These  unlettered  lexicogra{)hers  gave  symbolic  names  to  their 
rivers,  lakes,  islands  and  to  themselves,  and  in  their  vocabulary 
they  had  the  name  Chicago,  wnich,  in  the  language  of  the 
Illinois  tribes  meant  an  onion.  And  in  the  language  of  the  Pot- 
tawattomies,  who  dwelt  at  Chioago,  it  meant  ajjule-cat.     These 


20  Settlement  of  Quehec. 

we  e  its  liteiiil  mcaninijs  in  a  positive  sense,  and  Ly  tliis  naiue- 
the  place  where  our  city  stanck,  has  been  knowu  from  a  period 
ante-datiui^  its  history.*  It  is  hi^-hly  prohible  tliat  it  was  tlnis 
named  because  wild  onions  grew  in  ij^reat  profusion  there.  That 
the  name  w'as  a  synonyni  of  honoi-,  is  demonstrated  from  the  lact 
the  Illinois  tribes  named  one  of  their  chiefs  Chicaijo,  and  thus  ele- 
vated above  his  peers,  he  was  sent  to  France  in  1725,  and  had  the 
distiniruished  honor  of  being  introduced  to  the  Company  of  The 
Indies.f 

The  discovery  and  exploration  of  the  winkle  interior  of  the 
country,  was  the  work  of  French  zeal  and  enthusiasm.  To 
propagate  the  faith  was  the  lirst  object,  at  least  in  theory,  but  not 
far  behind  it  was  ambition  to  annex  new  realms  to  the  cri>wn  of 
France.  In  ])ursuit  of  these  two  (jbjects,  the  ex])loits  (;f  tlR-ii" 
advetiturers,  sohiiers  and  missionaries.  Iiave  justly  challenged  the 
admiration  of  ihe  world,  ijorne  along  by  the  tidal  wavi'  of 
glory,  these  men  gathered  force  and  strength  as  they  penetrated 
into  tlie  country,  and  breathed  the  air  of  freedom  which  pervade 
ed  the  liuiitless  creation  of  i)rairie  and  forest  under  the  regime, 
of  the  red  man. 

Even  before  the  Spaniards  under  De  Soto,  had  ])enetrated 
from  Florida  to  the  Mississi])])i  river,  which  was  from  l.'iSl*  to 
15-io,  the  French  under  Ji^^ues  C'artier,  liad  sailed  u})  the  St. 
Lawrence  as  far  as  Quebec.  This  was  in  15oft  The  deligliti.'d 
adventurers  r(!turned  to  France  with  the  news  of  their  discov- 
eries of  the  wedge-shaped  river  ninety  miles  wide  at  its  mouib, 
graduating  to  the  dimensions  of  a  common  river  at  (^uolx'c. 
What  was  beyond  was  left  to  conjecture  for  the  present.  I'l  r 
France  was  then  too  nuich  distracted  with  religious  dissensions^ 
at  home,  to  utilize  her  discoveries  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  it 
was  not  till  1(508  that  she  made  the  attempt.  At  that  time,  Sam- 
uel de  Cham  plain,  who  was  justly  called  tlie  father  of  Ki-w 
France,  made  a  permanent  settlement  at  Quebec.  He  was  the 
man  for  the  place:  austere  in  religion,  sapient  in  politics,  and 
courageous  in  war. 

The  deeds  of  the  first  settlers  of  all  new  countries  are  germ- 


fa^ 


cells  of  future  destiny.  Even  the  early  Indian  ])olicy  has  had 
its  influence,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  may  have  had  much 
to  do  with  casting  the  lot  of  the  Northwest  ultimately,  with  the 
English  colonies,  instead  of  with  the  F'rench,  who  were  its  flrst 
discoverers  and  owners.  The  tribes  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  or 
Ht»chelega,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  were  friendly  with  the 
French,  whom  they  called  Ononthio  (our  older  brother.)     In 

*  Happily  there  is  now  (1878)  a  living  witness  (Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  Esq.,)  well 
known  for  candor,  who  was  versed  in  the  Illinois  language,  whose  testimony  is 
the  authority  here  given  for  the  meaning  of  the  word,  and  may  be  looked  upor. 
as  conclusive.  Schoolcraft  and  other  authorities  might  also  be  cited,  if  more  werf* 
required. 

+  ;ihe  '  •  Cl'.arlcvoix.     Vol.  VI,  page  76. 


Settlement  at  Albany.  21 

Champlain  they  beheld  their  champion  who  could  lead  them  to 
victory  against  their  ancient  enemie*,  the  Iroquois,  or  Five 
Natiolis,  who  inhabited  the  present  Stnte  of  New  York.  Their 
central  seat  of  power  was  located  on  the  banks  of  Onondaga 
hike,  among  the  cluster  of  lakes  which  was  then,  and  is  now, 
the  paradise  of  the  region  thereal)outs. 

Without  discussing  the  merits  of  the  dispute  between  these 
traditionary  enemies,  Champlain  consented  to  lead  a  war  party 
of  his  allies,  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  against  tiie  Iro(pi<>is.  It  was 
in  Hi09,  the  next  year  after  the  settlement  of  (Quebec,  that  he, 
with  a  canoe  lieet  of  noisy  Indians,  i)addled  his  way  up  the 
river,  then  witliout  a  name,  wiiich  connects  the  waters  of  Lake 
Champlain""'  with  the  St.  Lawrence  river.  Following  the  West- 
ern Bank  of  the  Lake  nearly  to  the  present  site  of  Ticonderoga, 
at  midnight  they  saw  the  enemy,  who,  like  themselves,  were  on 
s<nue  adventure.  The  two  parties  held  a  parley  and  agreed  to 
laud  and  wait  till  daylight  before  commencing  the  fight.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  truce,  each  band  chose  their  positions  like 
duelists  on  a  Meld  of  honor.  Champlain  opened  the  battle  by 
piercing  two  Iroquois  chiefs  tiirough  tJie  body  at  a  single  shot  of 
his  ritic,  and  the  brave  but  astonished  Iroquois  tied  before  the 
eticctive  weapons  of  warfare,  which  had  been  so  unexpectedly 
introduced  among  them.  But  the  end  was  not  yet.  The  same 
year  Henry  Hudson  sailed  up  the  river,  which  bears  his  name, 
to  the  present  site  of  All)any,  and  built  Ft.  Orange.  Around 
this  nucleus  of  German  powder  (ultimately  English  power,)  tiie 
Iroquois  gathered  with  amicable  intentions,  all  tliemore  abiding 
from  the  fact  that  the  French  )iad  assaulted  them  at  iirst  sight, 
and  thus  made  them  their  enemies. 

This  good  fellowship  was  reciprocated.  The  Indians  wanted 
guns,  kettles  and  knives,  and  the  Dutch  wanted  furs  in  exchange 
for  them.  In  a  few  years  they  wanted  more.  As  the  aggres- 
sive spirit  of  the  French  on  the8t.  Lawrence  began  to  make  itself 
maiiifest,the  Dutch  found  their  Iroquois  allies  a  convenient  bul- 
wark, behind  which  to  take  shelter  from  their  Canadian  foes,  both 
French  and  Indian,  who  at  an  early  day  often  threatened  the 
Northern  border  with  destructive  forays;  meantime  Champlain's 
colony  soon  I)egan  to  feel  the  weight  of  Iroquois  v^engeance,  re- 
lieved only  by  treacherous  intervals  of  peace.  In  1615  Champlain 
pushed  his  explorations  to  the  banks  of  Lake  Huron,  and  tiour- 
ishino-  niissi<uiary  stations  were  established  in  the  country  of 
the  llurons  on  the  Eastern  shore  of  the  lake,  which  still  perpet- 
uate *heir  memory.  In  1041  two  zealous  missionaries,  Jogues 
and  Rambault  reached  the  falls  of  St.  Mary,  and  in  1658,  two 
venturesome  fur  traders,  one  of  whose  names  was  De  Groseilles, 
reached  the  Western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  and  wintered 

*  The  lake  took  its  name  from  him. 


22  Jf'irst  News  of  the  Mississippi' 

among  the  Sioux,  tlie  same  people  whose  descendants  over- 
wliehned  the  aniij  of  Gen.  Custer  in  tlie  Black  Hills,  during 
the  summer  of  1876.  At  that  time  these  tribes  numbered 
40,000"  and  held  tiie  country  tar  to  tlie  West — even  beyond  the 
Mississippi  river.  They  told  the  French  traders  about  the 
great  river  which  flowed  southwardly  through  the  interior,  which 
were  the  lirst  direct  tidings  which  came  to  them  of  this  stream 
The  next  spring  the  two  traders  returned  to  Canada  with  an 
escort  of  250  Indians  and  a  vahiable  cargo  ot  furs.  A  great 
sensation  was  produced  by  this  imposing  delegation.  Tlie 
news  they  brought  of  the  great  river  was  particularly  inspirin.- 
to  the  French,  whose  passion  for  water  channels  of  communi- 
cation into  the  interior  was  overweening.  An  expedition  to 
return  with  the  Sioux  to  their  distant  lodges  beyond  the  great 
lakes,  was  immediately  set  on  foot ;  all  classes  were  eager  to 
join  it,  the  fur  traders  for  peltries  and  the  missionaries  to  open 
new  fields  for  gospel  cultivation.  The  former  provided  them- 
selves with  trinkets  for  barter  with  the  Indians,  and  the  latter 
with  baptismal  basins  wherewith  to  put  the  seal  of  Christianity 
upon  their  disciples,  who  were  to  be  converted  from  heathenish 
darkness  into  the  light  of  Christianity.  Armed  with  these  and 
other  appliances,  the  hosts  of  the  devil  were  to  be  attacked  in 
the  very  heart  of  his  dominion,  to  use  the  language  of  the 
Jesuit  relations  during  those  days  of  chivalric  piet,y.  And  in 
truth,  when  these  hardy  old  Soldiers  of  the  Cross  appropriated 
the  watchwords  of  the  battle  Held,  as  fitting  expressions  to  sym- 
bolize the  work  before  t'  ",  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  meta- 
phor was  not  far-fetched,  especially  after  Jogues,  Lallemant, 
i3rebeuf,Garreau,  and  Gamier,  had  fallen  victims  of  Iroquois  ven- 
geance. The  expedition  started  from  Montreal  the  next  spring, 
numbering  thirty  young  Frenchmen,  to  whom  were  added 
Fathers  Leonard  Garreau  and  Gabi-iel  Dreuilletes,t  and  the 
Sioux  delegation  who  had  accompanied  the  traders.  The  eyes 
of  the  ever  watchful  and  jealous  Iroquois  were  upon  them,  and 
they  had  but  little  more  than  lost  sight  of  their  starting  place, 
when  they  were  waylaiil  by  these  ubiquitous  foes.  Father  Gar- 
rau  and  several  others  were  killed  on  the  spot,  the  other  French- 

*Charlevoix,  Carver,  Pike. 

f  This  emenent  missionary  hnd  been  stationed  for  several  years  among  the 
Al)enaquis  of  Sagadehoc,  (Maine).  Returning  from  thence  to  Canada,  by  order 
of  his  superiors,  he  was  soon  commis.sioned  to  po  to  Hosionon  an  embassy,  to 
bring  about  a  comity  of  interest,  Ixitli  religious  and  secular.  Canada  at  tlial  time, 
was  oppressed  by  tlie  burdens  of  impolitic  legislation,  such  as  the  banishmeni  ot 
Huguenots  and  onerous  restrictions  on  the  lur  trade,  and  her  Statesmen  beheld 
with  amazement  the  rising  power  of  the  Massachusetts  coLniy,  and  felt  a  .strong 
desire  to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  the  IJostoiiians,  for  tlie  jMirpose  of  working  in 
harmony  together  for  tiie  c  mver-ion  of  the  Indians,  and  also  to  keep  tiiem  under 
a  wholesome  restraint  by  a  concert  of  action  between  ihe  I",ngli>h  and  French. 
In  response  to  this  overture,  the  prudential  Bostonian>,  under  the  counsels  of  such 
uien  as  Winblow,  Dudley,  Bradford,   and  Eliot,  declined  the  proposaL     Eveiy 


French  Take  Possession  of  the  North-  West.  23 

men  saved  themselves  by  flight,  leaving  their  canoes  and  mer- 
chandise in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  No  cause  for  a  quarrel 
had  yet  had  place  between  the  Iroquois  and  Sioux,  and  tlie  lat- 
ter were  allowed  to  depart  in  peace  tor  their  homes.  It  was  not 
till  10G5  that  any  further  progress  was  made  in  Western  explor- 
ation. At  this  time,  Father  Alouez  reaching  the  Falls  of  St. 
Mary  in  September,  coasted  ak)ng  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Superior  to  the  great  village  of  the  Chippcwas.  Here  he  sum- 
moned a  council  of  Indian  nations,  composed  of  delegations 
frojn  all  the  tribes  of  the  adjacent  countries,  among  whom  were 
representatives  from  the  Illinois  tribe,  which  is  the  first  mention 
made  of  them.  In  Father  Alouez,  they  beiield  a  champion  of 
human  rights,  and  :o  him  they  unbosomed  their  griefs  by  tirst 
informing  him  cf  their  ancient  grandeur,  and  then  of  their 
diminished  mnnbers  from  hostile  visitations  of  the  Sioux  on  the 
West  and  the  Iroqr.ois  from  the  East,  who  had  extended  their 
conquests  over  the  prairies,  even  before  the  white  niuu  had  co?ne 
among  them.  Alouez  addressed  them  with  words  of  paternal 
care,  offering  them  the  Christian  religion  and  promising  them 
protection  against  the  Iroquois. 

Soon  after  this,  missit)ns  were  established  ut  Green  Bay,  St. 
Marys  and  LaPoint,  but  the  next  notable  event  which  took  place 
was  the  grand  gathering  at  St.  Marys.  Nicholas  Perrot  was  the 
moving  spirit  of  this  convention.  Thither  he  summoned  Chiefs 
from  no  less  than  fourteen  tribes  to  help  celebrate  the  ceremo- 
nials, for  a  great  deed  was  to  be  executed.  Possession  was  to 
be  taken  of  the  country.  Fifteen  Frenchmen  were  present, 
among  whom  were  Alouez  and  Joliet.  A  large  wooden  cross 
was  consecrated,  and  elevated  like  a  liberty  pole  of  modem 
days.  This  d(»ne,  around  it  knelt  the  ]>riests.  who  sang,  chant- 
ed, and  prayed  with  suitable  impressment,  and  went  through  the 
forms  of  taking  possession  of  the  country  along  the  upper  lakes 
and  "Southward  to  the  sea,"  a  description  of  an  unknown 
quantity,  for  up  to  tliat  time  no  explorer  had  ventured  very  far 
into  the  interior.  It  was  well  known,  liowevei',  that  a  great  river 
coursed  Southwardly  through  the  country,  but  whither  did  it 
lead  ?  The  hopeful  theory  was,  that  it  o|)ened  into  waters  lead- 
possible  token  of  respect  was  shown  their  distinguished  Ruest.  But  the>c  consid- 
erate representatives  of  t)ie  New  American  Idea,  based  on  religious  toleration, 
deterniined  not  to  dilute  the  force  of  it  by  complicity  with  the  elements  in  Can- 
ada, which  were  cairying  weights  in  the  exciting  race  for  National  grandeur  be- 
tween ihe  two  contestants.  Moreover,  the  Iroquois  had  never  raised  the  haichet 
against  Massachusetts,  and  if  they  had  swept  Canada  with  the  fire  brand  and 
scalping  knife,  even  as  the  sickel  reaps  the  wheat  field  and  the  fire  consumes  the 
stubble,  might  it  not  be  in  the  providence  of  God  to  punish  them  for  their  perse- 
cutions of  the  Huguenots?  Therefore  the  disappointed  I'ricst  was  dismissed  with 
a  refusal  to  1,'rant  his  request,  softened  with  courtly  blnndishnients,  but  withal, 
an  air  of  independance,  as  much  as  to  say  :  we  are  willing  to  trust  to  the  provi- 
dence of  God  for  our  future  destiny,  and  you  must  also  do  the  same. 


24  Discovery  9 f  th6  Mississippi  River. 

iDg  to  Chini*.,  "or  th:*--  t:!G'-'*n»  'Illusion,  which  had  been  the  in- 
centive to  Columbus  wLcn  ue  penetrated  tlie  secrets  of  the 
ocean,  was  still  the  golden  dream  of  the  Canadian  adventurers. 
Pending  the  so  speculations.  Father  Mai-quette  and  Joliet  ob- 
tained leave  from  'i  alon,  the  Intendant  of  Canada,  to  start  oh 
an  expedition  for  the  piu-pose  of  bringing  to  light  the  mysteries 
of  this  river,  the  country  it  drained  and  whither  it  went. 

Joliet  was  born  in  Canada  and  was  educated  for  a  priest,  but 
was  evidently  better  fitted  by  nature  for  an  explorer  than  for  a 
father  confessor.  But  Marquette  had  not  mistaken  his  calling. 
With  peculiar  fitness  and  grace  his  sacerdotal  robes  dspended 
from  his  shoulders,  belted  around  his  waist  by  the  me  /e'zlQ 
chord  of  his  priestly  order.  The  love  of  God  and  man,  and  the 
deep  adoration  of  tlio  blessed  Virgin  who  was  his  patron  Saint, 
were  ever  visible  in  his  face,  which  was  cast  in  a  mould  of  benev- 
olence. The  tender  passions  of  liis  youth  found  vent  in  the 
pious  devotions,  which  were  his  every-day  routine,  and  which 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  had  made  him  conspicuous  among  his 
Jesuit  brethren  in  the  vanguard  of  that  army  of  pioneers. 
The  two  distinguished  men  started  from  St.  Ignace,  a  small 
missionary  station  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Straits  of  Mack- 
anaw.  Two  birch  bark  canoes,  live  men,  a  bag  of  corn  meal, 
a  string  of  dried  beef  and  a  blanket  apiece,  constituted  their 
outfit,  except  the  all-important  appliances  for  relisrious  devotions, 
such  as  beads  and  crosses,  so  necessary  to  the  success  of  the 
enterprise.  Their  route  lay  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  west  bank  of  Green  Bay.  Father  Alouez 
and  Dablon  had  established  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier 
here,  four  years  previously,  and  welcomed  the  adventurers  on 
their  laudable  enteritrise,  with  that  hearty  unction  which  can 
only  be  appreciated  by  men  who  have  missions  to  perform,  big 
with  future  destiny.  Resuming  their  journey,  they  ]>assed 
through  the  waters  of  Lake  Winnebago,  and  thence  accompan- 
ied by  Indian  guides,  contimiedup  tln'  Fox  river  to  the  carrying 
])hiee  across  to  the  WiscoJisin  rixer.  Into  this  stream  they 
launched  their  canoes,  and  for  the  lirst  time  dipped  their  paddles 
into  the  tributary  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Down  its  current 
they  passed  untler  (?l'dar-crested  precipices  of  solid  rock, 
through  forest  glooms  and  across  long  stretches  of  sandy  ])rairie. 
No  marks  of  human  life  were  apparent  along  these  then  silent 
grandeurs  Inch  are  now  the  admiration  of  tourists  in  the  ])ic- 
tinvsque  State  of  Wisconsin.  On  the  17th  of  June  they  emerged 
from  the  prairie  copse  which  fringed  the  banks  ot  the  Wiscon- 
sin, entered  the  forest  shades  wliich  stud  the  Mississippi,  and 
soon  found  themselves  on  its  broad  surface  ot  moving  waters, 
"with  a  joy  1  cannot  express"  says  the  devout  Marquette.* 

'Marquette  uaiued  it  Coaceiition  Kiver,  in  lioDor  of  tlie  day  on  whicli  it  was  diacovernL 


Frst  Interview  ivith  the  Indians,  25 

As  they  passed  down  its  waters  the  scenery  was  changed.  The 
banks  were  less  precipitous  than  the  bold  headlands  of  the  Wis- 
consin, and  the  countrv  looked  more  promising,  as  they  obtained 
occasional  views  of  it  through  the  openings  along  its  wooded 
margin.  Herds  of  buffalo  were  seen  grazing  on  the  ample  pas- 
turage of  the  prairies,  which  must  have  struck  the  beholders 
as  a  waste  of  nature's  gifts.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the  Des 
]\r<)iiies  river,  they  discovered  human  footprints  and  hesitated 
not  to  follow  them.  Leaving  their  canoes  in  charge  of  live  men, 
JVliir(]Uette  and  Joliet  took  the  Indian  path,  and  after  two  leagues 
travel,  came  in  sight  of  their  villages.  The  two  adventurers 
shouted  to  attract  attention  and  four  chiefs  advanced  to  meet 
them  witli  friendly  tokens.  They  were  of  the  Illir.ois  tribe  and 
haik'd  the  advent  of  the  two  Frenchmen  with  delight.  They 
feasted  tht'm  with  r<xast  buffalo,  tish  and  sagamite  (hominy), 
and  even  honored  them  with  the  proffer  of  roast  dog.  The  dis- 
tinguislied  guests,  however,  declined  this  dainty  repast,  although 
they  did  not  call  in  question  the  spirit  of  liospitality  with  which 
it  was  offered.  After  suital)le  prayers,  benedictions  and  com- 
pliments, the  Frenchmen  took  their  leave,  continuing  their  course 
dowa  the  river.  Just  above  Alton  is  a  high  bluff*  of  solid  rock. 
On  its  time-worn  surface,  some  artistic  Indian,  had  in  time  past, 
exhibited  his  accomplishme.its  by  painting  a  monstrosity  in  hu- 
man form.*  Marquette  was  startled  at  the  sight.  But  the  de- 
parted spirit  of  the  savage  artist  whose  genius  inspired  it  and  im- 
mortalized his  own  memory  did  not  come  to  his  rescue.  There- 
fore the  pious  Marquette  was  indignant  at  the  sight  of  the 
impious  device,  and  doubted  not  that  the  devil  was  its  author. 
Fain  would  he  have  effaced  the  sacriligious  picture,  but  it  was 
bey(»nil  his  reach.  Painfully  he  ruminated  on  this  evidence  of 
deia'>no]()>ry  iutheland,  as  the  two  bark  canoes  were  borne  along 
as  if  propelled  by  the  forces  of  nature,  till  suddeidy  they  found 
themselves  in  the  breakers  of  the  Missouri  river,  whoso  eddies 
whirled  their  lii^ht  water  craft  like  chaff'  in  a  miniature  hurri- 
cane. This  momentary  danger  diverted  his  thoughts  from  the 
unpleasant  subject,  and  they  proceeded  along  with  extra  cau- 
tion. They  )»assed  the  site  of  the  ))resent  city  of  St.  Louis,  slum- 
bering beneath  the  shades  *f  a  full-grown  forest,  with  no  pre- 
monition of  her  future  destiny.  The  giddy  heights  of  Grand 
Tower  and  the  Ohio  river  were  jiassed  without  meeting  any 
tnore  signs  of  life,  but  on  the  left  bank  below  this  river  they 
again  saw  Indians.  A  friendly  interview  was  secured  by  mean's 
ot  the  calumet,    and   to   their  astonishment   they  found  them 

*Vo  historic  authority  can  be  quoted  for  this  assumption,  hut  the  theory  is 
plausible  enough  to  warrant  its  belief  in  absence  of  conir.ivailing  testimony.  Por- 
tions of  this  picture  were  visible  as  Lite  as  1850,  and  might  have  l.een  till  ihis  day 
fcad  not  the  stone  on  which  it  was  painted  been  quarried  out  for  Imilding  purposes. 


26  The  Arkansas  Beached. 

dressed  in  broad-cloth  and  armed  with  guns.  ■•■     No  tidings  of  the 
sea  coast  could  be  obtained  from  them,  and  the  two  bands  of 
voyagers  parted    company  with  an  interchange  of  courtesies. 
Below  the  Ohio  tiie  monotony  of  scenery  is  chilling.     Here   the 
massed  floods  from  the  Western  slopes  ot  the  Alleghenies  and 
the  Eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  roll  along  through  a 
low,  spongy  soil,  and  with  a  power  mighty  and  unreniitting  con- 
tinue to  wear  away  on  one  bank  and  replenish  on  the  other. — 
on  one  side  a  primeval  forest  being  undermined  and  falling  by 
piecen;ieal  into  the  river,  while  on  the  other  a  young  nursery  of 
Cottonwood  trees  sprouting  up,  to  occupy  ground  that  but  a  few 
decades  past  was  the  bos  )m  of  the  rolling  deep,  and  a  few  cen- 
turies past  a  mature  forest  of  giant  trees.    Through  these  glooms 
the  adventurers  passed  down  the  river  till   the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas  was  reached.     Here  again  they  met  Indians,  savage  as 
nature  could  make  them.     The  hot-headed  young  men  of  the 
tribe  hurled  their  war  clubs  at  the  new-comers,  one  of  which 
flew  over  Manpietto's  head.     The  pious  missionary  prayed  to 
the  holy  Virgin  and  presented  the  potent  calumet.     The   old 
men,  seeing  the  situation,   call  bark  and  restrain  the  young  at- 
tackers, and  a  friendly  meeting  is  the  result,  f  tr  which  Mar- 
quette, with  his  a;;t:ustomed  loyaty  to  the  blessed  Virgii.,  gives 
all  the  credit  to  her  without  reserving  any  for  the  calumet.    From 
their  new  hosts  they  learned  tliat  the  month  of  the  Mississippi 
was  but  ten  days'  travel  distant,    but  it  was  not  deemetl  prudent 
to  advance  farther  with  the  intense  heat  of  .Tul\'  upon  them,  and 
the  danger  of  being  picked  up  by  Spanish  adventurers  imminent. 
They  had  passed  below  the  point  where  De  Soto  had  discovered 
and  crossed  the  Mississippi  in  lo-tl,  which  was  one  hundred  and 
thirty-two  years  previous,  but  no  trace  of  his  work  had  remained, 
not  even  in  tradition. f     The  object  of  their  expedition  had  been 
fulfilled,  which  was  to  discover  the  great  river  and  determine 
whether  it  em])tied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
In  the  latter  case  the  hopes  of  the  past  century  would  be  real- 
ized, which  was  a  Western  passage  to  the  land  of  the  Grand 
Kahn.     That  the  great  river  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  no 
doubt  could  now  exist,  but  that  the  waters  of  the  Missouri  led  to 
lakes  or  straits  which  opened  into  the  Pacific,  was  still  a  pleas- 
ing illusion. 

The  voyagers,  vl'-h  thankful  liearts.  now  determined  to  return, 
and  on  the  17th  of  July,  after  an  affectionate  leave-taking  of  tlieir 
coneiUated  but  rather  doul)tfid  friends,  turned  their  canoes  up- 
stream, when  came  the  tug  of  tugging,  for  'twas  no  easy  task  to 


*They  probably  were  a  roving  band  from  the  far  distant  borders  of  civilization 
on  the  Atlantic  coast. 

fSome  late  historians  have  stated  that  Spanish  coats  of  mail,  captured  from  De- 
Soto,  were  found  here  by  the  French,  but  iheir  authority  is  is  not  c^uoted. 


Passage  Up  the  Illinois  Miver.  27 

stein  the  current  of  the  Mississippi.  Patient  toiling  at  tlie  oar 
iinally  brought  them  to  the  nioutli  of  the  Illinois  river,  where 
the  Ivaskaskias  volunteered  to  conduct  the  voyagers  to  Lake  Mich- 
igan by  a  more  convenient  route  than  the  one  by  which  they  had 
come,  which  was  by  the  Illinois,  the  Desplaines  and  the  Chicago 
rivers.*  Marquette  gladly  availed  himself  of  their  services, 
especially  as  it  would  bring  him  to  the  acquaintance  of  new 
tribes  to  whom  the  blessed  words  of  the  Gospel  had  never  been 
spoken.  On  the  Illinois  river,  especially  along  the  shores  of 
Peoria  lake,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Starved  Rock,  near  the  present 
site  of  Utica,  were  the  principal  villages  of  the  Illinois  tribes. 
The  squaws  dug  uj)  the  rich  ]M-airie  soil  with  sharpened  sticks, 
planted  their  corn  and  cultivated  it  with  the  same  rude  instru- 
ments. The  yellow  harvest  was  carefully  stored  in  cacliesf  for 
the  common  use  of  the  tribe,  none  of  wliicli  was  wasted  in 
the  manufacture  of  whisky  or  assigned  to  tax  gatherers.  Their 
government,  or  rather  their  absence  of  government,  was  simple. 
If  one  person  committe<lan  oifence  against  another,  prompt  ven- 
geance was  taken  on  the  spot.  All  shared  alike  in  creature 
comforts,  but  yet  an  aristocracy  existed  among  them  quite  as 
marked  as  can  b'"  found  at  the  same  place  now.  It  was  not 
based  on  wealth,  for  they  had  nothing  which  could  represent  it 
beyon.d  a  few  glittering  ornaments  which  were  within  tlie  means 
of  the  humblest  pt)rciij>ine  hunter;  but  it  was  base<l  on  some  act 
of  daring  or  wise  or  heroic  counsel  which  had  promoted  the  pub- 
lic weal.  These  qualhications  gave  their  possessors  the  right  to 
speak  in  their  councils  and  challenged  due  homage  trom  the 
whole  tribe.  By  tiiese  qualifications  in  gradations  ot  political 
power  and  influence  nice  distinctions  were  made  by  connnou 
consent,  and  he  who  wouhi  transcend  tliese  distinctions  would  be 
ostracised  unsparingly,  with  no  asylum  wherewith  to  hide  his 
ilisgrace. 

To  these  high  minded  chiefs,  Marquette  offered  the  christian 
religion,  and  no  opposition  was  made  to  it ;  indeed  they  set 
their  subordinates  an  example  of  patronage  to  it  by  manafesting 
a  commendable  interest  in  it,  nor  did  they  by  implication  or 
otherwise,  show  any  signs  of  preference  for  their  own  (iod, 
the  Great  Spirit.  Marquette  was  delighted  at  the  prospect  that 
a  nation  might  be  born  in  a  day,  especially  when  they  listened 
to  his  religious  tenets  and  eleinentary  explanaticms  of  the  phm 
of  salvation,  and  politely  invited  him  to  return  and  set  up  the 

♦This  is  conceded  to  1-e  the  first  record  made  of  any  allusion  ti  the  Chicago 
portage,  although  Alouez,  Nicbolet  and  Perrot  have  each  l>een  credited  hy  some 
writers  as  ihe  first  to  visit  Chicago  But  it  is  possible,  and  even  probable,  that  the 
Illinois  chiefs  informed  Alouez  oi  the  place  at  his  great  council  at  the  Chippewa 
village  on  L.ike  Superior  in  1665  ;  yet  no  record  is  made  of  such  information  by 
eitiier  Shea  or  Parkman. 

tThcse  were  excavations  in  the  ground,  not  unlike  cellars,  covered  with  earth. 


"28  Discovery  of  Chicago. 

•standard  of  the  cross  among  them.  Thus  jjassed  the  hours  of 
his  sojourn  among  the  flexible  Illinois,  and  when  the  pious  mis- 
sionary resumed  his  journey  with  Joliet  and  his  company  of  five, 
ii  large  delegation  of  his  late  Indian  friends  accompanied  them 
to  Chicago.  Few  people  ever  came  to  this  place  for  the  first 
time  without  an  excited  curiosity  to  see  it,  and  it  is  only  a  rea- 
sonable presumption  that  these  French  adventurers  were  eager 
to  behold  the  face  of  the  dear  old  lake,  in  whose  sparkling 
waters  they  had  for  many  years  glided  their  light  barks  in  its 
northern  extremity,  and  especially  to  see  the  little  inlet  stream 
called  Chicago,  to  which  the  Indians  attached  so  mucli  impor- 
tance. 

"Twas  in  September.  The  emerald  hues  of  the  i)rairie  had 
already  been  mottled  with  the  mature  tints  of  antunin.  The 
summer  haze  had  vanished  and  the  stimulating  breath  of  tiie 
familiar  old  lake  greeted  them  cheerfully,  as  the  party  crossed 
the  carrying  place  from  the  Dcs])Uiincs  to  the  South  branch 
of  the  Chicago  river.  Into  the  little  stream  they  launched  their 
boats,  and  their  wake  sent  tiny  waves  among  the  tall  grasses 
which  batlied  their  roots  in  the  water's  edge  on  each  side.  Here 
the  two  bands  parted  with  a  hearty  good-bye,  the  Indians  re- 
turned to  their  lodges  and  the  Frenchmen  took  their  course  down 
the  western  shore  of  the  lake.  It  is  in  the  economy  of  Provi- 
dence to  hide  the  book  of  fate  from  all,  else  who  could  move  in 
their  accustomed  spheres.  Where  is  the  fruitage  of  those  seeds 
which  Marquette  planted  during  his  life-labors  in  the  wilds  of 
America,  and  where  the  haughty  tribes  whom  the  French  hoped 
to  elevate  to  their  own  standard  by  infusing  their  own  spirit  into 
their  facile  but  keen  senses  i 

The  enthusiasm  and  dash  of  the  French  and  their  tawny  al- 
lies have  melted  away  before  the  silent  jjower  which  began  with- 
out high  expectations  on  the  stubborn  coast  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
the  Chicago  of  to-day  is  no  inconsiderable  monument  of  the  force 
of  this  power.  Its  destiny,  liowever,  was  yet  a  sealed  book,  and 
so  it  remained  for  a  century  from  this  time. 

Marquette  and  his  party  soon  arrived  at  the  Mission  at  Green 
Bay.  1  lis  strength  was  exhausted,  and  he  was  obliged  to  remain 
here  for  the  winter  to  rest,  while  Joliet  should  return  to  Canada 
and  report  their  discoveries  to  Frontenac,  the  governor.  Am|>le 
notes  of  travel  had  been  carefully  prepared  and  also  an  autograph 
map  of  the  country  through  which  they  had  passed,  on  which  rjvers 
and  Indian  villages  had  been  laid  down  with  a  fair  approximate  to 
accuracy.*     Marquette  rested  at  the  comfortable  quarters  of  the 

"This  map  is  siui  preserved  in  the  college  of  St.  Mary  in  Montreal  A  fac 
simile  of  it  has  been  published  by  Mr.  Shea,  of  New  York,  and  inserted  in  his 
book  entitled,  «•  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi."  It  has  also  been  inserted  in  the 
margin  of  Blanchard's  Historical  Map  of  the  United  States,  published  at  Chicago 
in  1876,  and  a  copy  reduced  in  scale  is  herewith  presented. 


Marquette  Winters  at  Chicago.  20 

niissi"n  lion!?e  at  (Ti-een  Bay  the  ensuing  winter,  and  when  spring 
came  he  was  still  too  weak  to  return  to  ])reach  the  gospel  to  the 
Illhiois  trilies,  according  to  his  prouiise  when  he  left  theuj.  He- 
therefore  deferred  his  de])arture  till  the  heats  of  summer  were  over. 
On  the  25th  of  October,  feeling  revived  bvthe  bracing  influences 
of  autumn,  he,  with  two  companions,  Ferre  and  Jacques,  and  a 
band  of  Indians,  started  on  his  mission  to  the  Illinois.  It  took 
them  a  month  to  reach  Chicago.  Here  again  the  strength  of  the 
missionarv  gave  out  and  his  companions  l)uilt  a  log  cabin  for  him 
on  the  South  branch  of  the  ('hicago  river,  and  nursed  him  with 
tender  solicitude  through  the  winter,  and  the  Indians  often 
brought  him  such  luxuries  as  their  limited  means  could  supply 
to  reliev'e  his  wants."  There  were  also  some  fur  traders  '"at  the 
portage,"  which  meant  Chicago,  who  had  just  established  them- 
selves at  this  important  point  so  lately  nuide  known  t^)  the  Cana- 
dians. They  often  visited  Marqui^te's  humble  cabin  and  di- 
vided their  scanty  supplies  of  eatables  with  the  invalid  mission- 
ary.f  From  items  of  his  journal  it  ap]^ears  that  his  Indian 
friends,  who  visited  him  with  all  their  willingness  to  receive  las 
religious  instruction,  had  the  bad  taste  to  ask  him  for  powder,  to 
which  re(piest  the  dying  missionary  replied  :  "  Powder  I  have 
not.  \Ve  came  to  spread  ])eace  throngh  the  land,  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  see  you  nt  war  with  the  MiaTuis.":}: 

The  si>ring  floods,  which  broke  up  the  ice  on  the  29th  of  March, 
were  so  high  as  to  cover  the  ground  where  his  cabin  stood,  and 
make  the  wretched  hut  untenable.  They  wei-e  therefore  forced 
to  seek  their  canoe  as  an  asylum  from  the  swollen  waters,  ami  in 
it  they  passed  over  to  the  Desplaines  and  down  its  current  to  the 
IlHnois  river.  The  last  item  on  his  journal  l)ears  date  of  April 
<ith.  On  the  .sth  he  arrived  at  the  great  village  of  the  Illinois, 
which  was  situated  near  the  ])resent  site  of  Utica.  He  was  re- 
ceived as  "an  angel  from  Heaven,"  says  the  relation.  Five 
hundred  chiefs  and  ohi  men  seatetl  themselves  in  a  circle  around 
the  Father,  and  t)utside  of  these  were  hfreen  hundred  of  the  com- 
moner classes,  and  ])i;yond  these  were  the  women  and  children. 
In  short,  the  whole  village  had  assembled  on  the  green,  leaving 
their  empty  houses  behind  without  fear  of  burglars  or  faithless 
servants'  misdemeanors  during  their  absence.  With  deep  pathos. 
the  words  ol  the  Father,  m  pure  Indian  dialect,  penetrated  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers  aiul  inspired  them  with  a  transient  venera- 
tion for  the  Christian's  God.     These  were  his  last  services.    His 


*Shea's  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  page  54.     Packman's  Discovery  of 
the  Great  West,  page  68. 
fShea,  page  54. 

jThe  Illinois  and  Miamies  to  the  east  of  them  had  been  enemies  for  many  years, 
and  remained  so  till  La  Salle,  in  1682,  with  sitillful  diplomacy,  negotiated  a  per- 
mr-r-n-  ^zz.zz  bet'.v:nn  them.     See  Tonty's  Life  of  La  Salle. 


30  Death  of  Marqxiette- 

sands  of  life  had  almost  run  our,  and  feeling  a  desire  to  roach 
Canada  before  he  died,  he  made  hasle  to  take  his  leave.  He  had 
endeared  himself  to  his  Indian  ll(K'k,  proofs  of  which  they  gave 
by  accompanying  him  in  large  numbers  on  bis  return  as  far  as 
Chicago,  and  contending  with  each  other  for  the  honor  of  con- 
veying his  baggage.  From  Chicago  he  had  determined  his  route 
to  Canada  by  tlie  Eastern  shore  of  Luke  Illinois,  as  Lake  Michi- 
gan was  then  called.  The  same  two  companions  were  with  him 
who  had  c  )ndiicte:l  him  from  Green  Bay  to  the  Illinois  villages. 
The  love  between  these  young  men  and  their  spiritual  father  was 
tender  and  sincere  on  boch  sides,  and  as  they  plied  their  oars 
along  the  still  shores  of  the  lake  with  unremitting  strokes,  the 
father  instructed  them  how  to  bury  him  when  death  came,  for  ho 
now  felt  certain  that  he  could  not  live  to  reach  Canada.  Arriving 
at  a  place  a  iittle  below  Sleeping  Bear  Point,  the  father 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  land,  but  his  companions,  wishing  to  make 
all  possible  haste  on  the  way,  tried  to  persuade  him  to  keep  on 
their  course.  At  that  moment  a  storm  began  to  make  a  com- 
motion in  the  waters,  and  they  landed  and  built  a  hut  of  bark  for 
their  dying  master  and  carried  him  in  their  arms  from  the  boat  to 
it.  Willie  his  strength  yet  held  out  he  took  the  precaution  to  write 
down  his  own  sins,  or  what  he  called  such,  since  his  last  con- 
fession to  his  superior,  for  propitiation.  Next  he  promised  to  re- 
member his  two  attendants  in  heaven ;  and  then,  after  asking 
their  pardon  for  the  trouble  he  had  caused  them,  he  begged  them 
to  lay  down  to  rest  by  his  side,  ])romising  to  awaken  them  when 
the  last  agony  came.  In  about  two  hours  he  called  them  to  his 
side  and  soon  died  in  transports  of  joy. 

Perre  and  Jacques  buried  him  on  the  bank  of  the  lake  and 
erected  a  large  wooden  cross  over  his  grave,  and  with  deep  de- 
jection left  the  s})ot  where  their  beloved  father  had  laid  down  to 
take  his  last  rest,  where  twenty  years  of  toiling  through  the 
wilderness  liad  brought  him. 

It  was  late  in  the  Spring,  on  the  I'Jth  of  May,  that  his  death 
took  place,  and  the  news  of  the  sad  event  came  to  the  different 
tribes  of  the  country  not  long  after  they  had  returned  to  their 
various  homes  from  the  usual  winters  hunt.  A  universal  tribute 
of  respect  was  shown  to  his  memory.  The  Ottawas,  of  Canada, 
did  more  than  to  express  this  in  words.  The  next  spring,  1(J76, 
as  one  of  their  hunting  parties  were  returning  from  the  vicinity 
of  the  grave,  they  dug  up  the  reuuiins  and  separated  the  bones 
from  the  decayed  flesh,  according  to  the  Indian  custom,  and  en- 
veloped them  in  a  casket  of  birch  bark.  This  done,  they  care- 
fully conveyed  the  precious  relics  to  the  near(>st  missionary  sta- 
tion, which  was  at  St.  Ignace,  opposite  Michilimakinac.  Asthey 
approached  the  place  they  were  met  hy  the  priests  at  the  head 
of  a  procession  of  the  resident  traders  and  Indians.     With  im- 


Maaquette's  Journal.  "  31 

pressive  funeral  services  the  bones  were  interred  beneath  the 
floor  in  the  chapel. 


"  Rev.  Father  :  the  Peace  of  Christ:  Having  been  compelled  to  remain  all 
summer  at  St,  Francis  on  account  of  my  ill-health,  and  having  recovered  in  the 
month  or  September,  I  waited  for  the  arrival  of  our  people  returning  from  below 
(i  e.,  Quebec),  to  know  what  I  should  do  for  my  wintering.  They  brought  me 
orders  for  my  voyage  to  the  Mission  of  the  Conception  among  the  Illinois.  Hav 
ino-  met  Your  Reverence's  wishes  touching  copies  of  my  journal  on  the  Mississippi 

river,  I  set  out  wiih  Pierre  Porteret  and  Jacque ,  Oct.  25,  1674.     In  the  afier- 

noon  tlie  wind  forced  u~  to  lay  up  for  the  night  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where 
the  Poitawatamies  were  nssembled  ;  the  head  men  not  wishing  any  to  go  off  to- 
wards the  Illinois,  for  fear  the  young  men  would  lay  up  furs  with  the  goods  they 
had  brought  from  below,  and  after  hunting  beaver  would  resolve  to  go  down  in 
the  spring,  when  they  expect  to  have  reason  to  fear  the  Sioux. 

"  Oct.  26. — Passing  to  the  village,  wc  found  only  two  cabins  there,  and  they 
were  starting  to  winter  at  La  Gasparde  :  we  learned  that  five  canoes  of  Poitawat- 
amies and  four  of  Illinois  had  set  out  to  go  to  the  Kaskaskia. 

"27.  We  were  detained  in  the  morning  by  rain  ;  in  the  afternoon  we  had  fair 
weather  and  calm,  and  overtook  at  Sturgeon  Bay,  the  Indians  who  preceded  us. 

"  28.  We  reached  the  portage  ;  a  canoe  which  was  ahead  prevented  our  killing 
any  game  ;  we  began  our  portage,  and  cabined  for  the  night  on  the  other  side, 
where  the  bad  weather  gave  us  much  trouble.  Pieire  did  not  come  in  till  one 
o'clock  at  night,  having  got  lost  on  a  road  on  which  he  had  never  before  been. 
After  rain  and  thunder,  snow  began  to  fall. 

"29.  Having  been  compelled  to  change  our  cabinagc,  we  continued  to  carry 
the  bundles.  The  portage  is  about  a  league  long,  and  very  inconvenient  in  some 
parts.  The  Illinois,  assembling  in  Our  cabin  in  the  evening,  ask  us  not  to  leave 
them  ;  as  we  might  need  them,  and  they  know  the  lake  better  than  we  do,  we 
promised. 

"30.  The  Illinois  women  finished  our  portage  in  the  morning;  we  are  de- 
tained by  the  wind.     No  game. 

"31.  We  start  with  pretty  fair  weather,  and  stopped  for  the  night  at  a  little 
river.  The  road  from  Sturgeon  Bay,  by  land,  is  a  very  difficult  one  ;  we  did  not 
travel  far  on  it,  last  fall,  before  we  got  into  the  woods. 

"  Nov.  I.  Having  said  holy  mass,  we  halted  at  night  at  a  river,  from  which  a 
fine  road  leads  to  the  Pottawatamies.  Chachagwessiou,  an  Illinois,  much  es- 
teemed in  his  nation,  partly  because  he  concerns  himself  with  trade,  came  in  at 
night  With  a  deer  on  his  shoulder,  of  which  he  gave  us  part. 

'*2.  Holy  mass  said,  we  travelled  all  day  with  fair  weather.  W^e  killed  two 
cats,  which  were  almost  clear  fat. 

•'3.  As  I  was  on  land  walking  on  the  beautiful  sand,  the  whole  edge  of  the 
water  was  of  herbs  similar  to  those  caught  in  nets  at  St.  Ignace  ;  but  coming  to  a 
river  which  I  could  not  cross.  Our  people  put  in  to  take  me  on  board,  but  .ve 
could  not  get  out  again  on  account  of  the  sv/ell.  All  the  other  canoes  went  on 
except  the  one  that  came  with  us. 

"4.  We  are  detained.  There  is  apparently  an  island  offshore,  as  the  birds 
fly  there  in  the  evening. 

"  5.  We  had  hard  work  to  get  out  of  the  river.  At  noon  M-e  found  the  Indians 
in  a  river,  where  I  undertook  to  instruct  the  Illinois,  on  occasion  of  a  feast,  which 
No-wasking  we  had  just  given  to  a  %volfskin, 

"6.  We  made  a  good  day's  travel.  As  the  Indians  weie  out  hunting,  they 
came  on  some  footprints  of  men,  which  obliged  us  to  stop  next  day, 

"  9.  We  landed  at  two  o'clock,  on  account  of  the  fine  cabinage.  We  were  de- 
tained here  five  days  on  account  of  the  great  agitation  of  the  lake,  though  there 
was  no  wind  ;  then  by  the  snow,  which  the  sun  and  a  wind  from  the  lake  melted 
next  day. 

''15.  After  travelling  sufficiently,  we  cabined  in  a  beautiful  spot,  where  we 
were  detaiaed  three  davs.  Pierre  mends  an  Indian's  j;un.  Snow  falls  at  night 
una  mens  cy  \x-mj 


32  Marquette^ s  Journal.  _ 

••20.  We  slept  at  the  Bluffs,  cabined  poorly  enough  The  Indians  remain  be- 
hind, while  we  are  detained  by  the  wind  two  clays  and  a  half.  Pierre,  going  into 
the  woods,  finds  tlie  prairie  twenty  leagues  from  the  portage.  He  also  passed  hy 
a  beautiful  canal,  vaulted  as  it  were,  about  as  high  as  a  man  ;  there  was  a  foot  of 
water  in  it. 

"  21.  Having  started  about  noon,  we  had  hard  enough  work  to  make  a  rivci. 
The  cold  began  from  the  east,  and  the  ground  was  covered  with  a  fool  of  snow, 
which  remaine  I  constantly  from  thai  time.  We  were  detained  there  three  days, 
during  wIi^l".!  Pierre  killed  a  deer,  three  wild  geese  and  three  turkeys,  which  were 
very  good.  The  others  passed  on  to  the  prairies.  An  Indian  having  discovered 
some  cal)ins  came  to  tell  us.  Jacques  went  wiili  him  there  the  next  day.  Two 
hunters  also  came  to  see  me.  They  were  Maskoulens  to  the  numl)ers  of  eight  or 
iiine  cabins,  who  had  separated  from  each  other  to  be  able  to  live.  They  travel 
all  winter  with  hardships  almost  impossible  for  Frenchmen,  by  very  difiicult 
riads  ;  the  land  being  full  of  streams,  small  lakes  and  marshes.  They  are  very 
badly  cabined  and  eat  or  fast  according  to  the  spot  where  they  happen  to  be. 
Having  been  detained  by  the  wind,  we  remarked  that  there  were  large  sand- 
banks off  the  shore,  on  which  die  waves  broke  continually.  There  1  felt  some 
symptoms  of  a  dysentery. 

"  27.  We  had  hard  enough  work  to  get  out  of  the  river  ;  and  having  made 
about  three  leagues,  we  founil  the  Indians,  who  had  killed  some  buffalo,  and  also 
three  Indians,  who  had  eome  from  the  village.  We  w^...-  detained  there  by  a  wind 
from  the  shore,  immense  waves  that  came  from  the  lake,  and  the  cold. 

"  December  I.     We  went  ahead  of  the  Indians,  so  as  to  be  able  to  say  mass. 

"  3.  Having  said  mass  and  emliarked,  we  were  compelled  to  make  a  point  and 
land,  on  account  of  the  fog. 

"4.  We  started  well  to  reach  Portage  River,  which  was  frozen  half  a  foot 
thick.  There  was  more  snow  there  than  anywhere  else;  and  also  more  tracks  of 
animals  and  turkeys.  The  navigation  of  the  lake  from  one  portage  to  the  other, 
is  quite  fine,  there  being  no  traverse  to  make,  and  landing  being  quite  feasible  all 
along,  provided  you  do  not  obstinately  persist  in  travelling  in  the  breakers  and 
high  winds.  The  land  along  the  shore  is  good  for  nothing,  except  on  the  prair- 
ies. You  meet  eight  or  ten  pretty  fine  rivers.  Deer  hunting  is  pretty  good  as 
you  get  away  from  the  Pottawatamies. 

"12.  As  they  began  to  draw  to  get  to  the  portage,  the  Illinois  having  left, 
the  Pftttawalamies  arrived  with  much  difficulty.  We  could  not  say  mass  on  the 
feast  of  the  Conception,  on  account  of  the  bad  weather  and  the  cold.  During 
our  stay  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  Pierre  and  Jacques  killed  three  buffalo  and 
four  deer;  one  of  which  ran  quite  a  distance  with  his  heart  cut  in  two.  They  con- 
tented themselves  with  killing  three  or  four  turkeys  of  the  many  which  were 
around  uur  cabin,  because  they  were  almosl  dying  of  hunger.  Jacques  brought 
in  a  partridge  he  had  killed,  every  way  resembling  those  of  France,  except  that 
it  had  like  two  little  wings  of  three  or  four  feathers,  a  finger  long,  near  the  head, 
with  which  they  cover  the  two  sides  of  the  neck,  where  there  are  no  feathers. 

"  14.  Being  cabined  near  the  portage,  two  leagues  up  the  river,  we  resolved  to 
winter  there,  on  my  inability  to  go  further,  being  too  much  embarrassed,  and  my 
malady  not  permitting  me  to  stand  much  fatigue.  Several  Illinois  passed  yester- 
day, going  to  carry  their  furs  to  Nawaskingwe.  We  gave  them  a  buffalo  and  a 
deerthat  Jacques  had  killed  the  day  before.  I  think  I  never  saw  Indians  more 
greedy  for  French  tobacco  than  these.  They  came  and  threw  beaver  skins  at  our 
feet  to  get  a  small  piece ;  but  we  returned  them,  giving  them  some  pipes,  be- 
cause we  had  not  yet  concluded  whether  we  should  go  on. 

"15.  Chachagwcssiou  and  the  other  Illinois  left  ustogoandfind  their  peo- 
ple and  give  them  the  merchandise  v/hich  they  had  brought,  in  order  to  get  their 
furs,  in  which  they  act  like  traders  and  hardly  give  more  than  the  French  ;  I  in- 
structed them  before  their  departure,  deferring  the  holding  a  council  till  spring, 
whea  I  should  be  at  their  village  ;  they  gave  us  for  a  fathom  of  tobacco  three  fine 
buffalo  robes,  which  have  done  us  good  service  this  winter.  Being  thus  relieved, 
we  said  the  mass  of  the  Conception.  Since  the  I4lh,  my  disease  has  turned  into 
a  dysentery, 

••30.    Jacques  arrived  from  the  Illinois  village,  whick  was  only  eix  leagues 


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Marquette  s  Journal.  33 

from  here,  where  they  are  starving.  The  cold  and  snow  p'cvent  their  hunting. 
Some  having  informed  la  Toupine  and  the  surgeon  that  we  were  here,  and  unable 
to  leave  their  cabin,  had  so  alarmed  the  Indians,  believing  that  we  would  starve 
remaining  here,  that  Jacques  had  great  trouble  in  preventing  fifteen  young  men 
from  coming  to  carry  all  our  affairs. 

"ya«.  i6,  1675.  As  soon  as  the  two  Frenchmen  knew  that  my  illness  prevented 
my  going  to  them,  the  surgeon  came  here.with  an  Indian,  to  bring  us  some  whortle- 
berries and  bread  ;  they  are  only  eighteen  leagues  from  here,  in  a  beautiful  hunting 
ground  for  buffalo  and  deer,  and  turkeys,  which  are  excellent  there.  They  had,  too, 
laid  up  provisions  while  awaiting  us,  and  had  given  the  Indians  to  understand  that 
the  cabin  belonged  to  the  blackgown.  And  I  may  say  that  they  said  and  did  all 
that  could  be  expected  of  them  ;  the  surgeon  having  stopped  hereto  attend  to  his 
duties,  I  sent  Jacque  with  him  to  tell  the  Illinois,  who  were  near  there,  that  my 
illness  prevented  my  going  to  see  them,  and  that  if  it  continued  I  should  scarce- 
ly be  able  to  go  there  in  the  spring. 

"  24.  Jacque  returned  with  a  bag  of  corn  and  other  refreshments  that  the 
French  had  given  him  for  me  ;  he  also  brought  the  tongues  and  meat  of  two  buf- 
falo that  he  and  an  Indian  had  killed  near  by  ;  but  all  the  animals  show  the  bad- 
ness of  the  season. 

"  26.  Three  Illinois  brought  us  from  the  head  men,  two  bags  of  corn,  some 
dried  meat,  squashes,  and  twelve  beavers  ;  1st,  to  make  me  a  mat;  2d,  to  ask  me 
for  powder;  3d,  to  prevent  our  being  hungry  ;  4th.,  to  have  some  few  goods.  I 
answered  them  :  firstly, that  I  had  come  to  instruct  them,  by  speaking  to  them  of 
the  prayer,  &c  ;  secondly,  that  I  would  not  give  them  powder,  as  we  were  en- 
deavoring to  diffuse  peace  on  all  sides,  and  I  did  not  wish  them  to  begin  a  war 
with  the  Miamis  ;  thirdly,  that  we  were  in  no  fear  of  starving;  fourthly,  that  I 
would  encourage  the  French  to  carry  them  goods,  ana  that  they  must  satisfy  those 
among  them  for  the  wampum  taken  from  them,  as  soon  as  the  surgeon  started  to 
come  here.  As  they  had  come  twenty  leagues,  to  pay  them  for  their  trouble  and 
what  they  brought  me,  I  gave  them  an  axe,  two  knives,  three  clasp  knives,  ten 
fathoms  of  wampum,  and  two  double  mirrors  ;  telling  them  I  should  endeavor  to 
go  to  the  village  merely  for  a  few  days,  if  my  illness  continued.  They  told  me 
to  take  courage,  to  stay  and  die  in  their  country,  and  said  that  they  had  been 
told  that  I  would  remain  long  with  them. 

'■'■  Feb.  ().  Since  we  addressed  ourselves  to  the  Blessd  Virgin  Immaculate,  to 
whom  we  began  a  novena  by  a  mass,  at  which  Pierre  and  Jacque,  who  do  all  they 
can  to  relieve  me,  received,  to  ask  my  recovery  of  the  Almighty,  my  dysentery  has 
ceased  ;  there  is  only  a  weakness  of  the  stomach  left.  I  begin  to  feel  much  bet- 
ter, and  to  recovet  rny  strength.  None  of  the  Illinois  who  had  ranged  them- 
selves near  us  have  been  cal)ined  for  a  month ;  some  took  the  road  to  the  Potta- 
watamies,  and  some  are  still  on  the  lake,  waiting  for  the  navigation  to  open. 
They  carry  letters  to  uur  Fathers  at  St.  Francis. 

"  ao.  We  had  time  to  observe  the  tide  which  comes  from  the  lake,  rising 
and  falling,  although  there  appears  no  shelter  on  the  lake.  We  saw  the  ice  go 
against  the  wind.  These  tides  made  the  water  good  or  bad,  because  what  comes 
from  above  flows  from  the  prairies  and  small  streams  The  deer,  which  are 
plentiful  on  the  lake  shore,  are  so  lean  that  we  had  to  leave  some  that  we  killed. 

"  Mxirck  23. — We  killed  several  partridges  :  only  the  male  has  the  little  wings 
at  the  neck,  the  female  not  having  any.  These  partridgrs  are  pretty  good,  but  do 
not  come  up  to  the  French. 

"  30.  The  north  wind  having  prevented  the  thaw  till  the  25th  of  March,  it  be- 
gan with  a  southerly  wind.  The  next  day  game  began  to  appear ;  we  killed 
thirty  wild  pigeons,  which  I  found  better  than  those  below  (Quebec),  but  smaller, 
both  young  and  old.  On  the  28th,  the  ice  broke  and  choked  above  us.  On  the 
29th  the  water  was  so  high  that  we  had  barely  time  to  uncabin  in  haste,  put  our 
things  on  trees,  and  try  to  find  a  place  to  sleep  on  some  hillock,  the  water  gain- 
ing (m  us  all  night ;  but  having  frozen  a  little,  .and  having  fallen  as  we  were  near 
our  luggage,  the  dyke  burst  and  the  ice  went  down,  and  as  the  waters  are  again 
ascending  already,  we  are  going  to  embark  to  co'Ulnue  our  route 

"  The  Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate  has  taken  such  care  of  us  during  our  winter- 
tering,  that  we  have  wanted  nothing  in  the  way  of  provisions,  having  a  large  bag 


3i 


Discovery  of  His  Bones. 


of  com  still  left,  meat  and  grease  ;  we  have  too,  lived  most  peacefully,  my  sick- 
ness not  preventing  me  from  saying  mass  every  day.  We  were  able  to  keep  Lent 
only  Fridays  and  Saturdays. 

••  31.  Having  started  yesterday,  we  made  three  leagues  on  the  river,  going  up, 
without  finding  any  portage.  We  dragged  for  half  an  arpent.  Besides  this  out- 
let, the  river  has  another,  by  which  we  must  descend.  Only  the  very  high 
grounds  escape  inundation.  That  where  we  are  has  increased  more  than  twelve 
feet.  Here  we  began  our  poria^e  more  than  eighteen  months  ago.  Geese  and 
duck  pass  constantly.  We  contented  ourselves  with  seven.  The  ice  still  brought 
down,  detain  us  here,  as  we  do  not  know  in  what  state  the  river  is  lower  down. 

^^  April  I.  As  I  do  not  yet  know  whether  I  shall  remain  this  summer  at  the 
village  or  not,  on  account  of  my  dysentery,  we  left  there  what  we  could  dispense 
with,  especially  a  bag  of  corn,  while  detained  by  a  strong  south  wind.  We  hope 
to  morrow  to  reach  the  spot  where  the  French  are,  fifteen  leagues  from  here. 

•'6.  The  high  winds  and  cold  prevent  us  from  proceeding.  The  two  lakes  iiy 
which  we  have  passed,  are  full  of  bustards,  geese,  ducks,  cranes,  and  other  birds 
that  we  do  not  know.  The  rapids  are  pretty  dangerous  in  some  places.  We  have 
just  met  the  surgeon,  with  an  Indian,  going  up  with  a  canoe-load  of  furs ;  but  the 
cold  being  too  severe  for  men  who  have  10  drag  their  canoes  through  the  water, 
he  has  just  made  a  cache  of  his  beaver,  and  goes  back  to  the  village  with  us  to- 
morrow. If  the  French  get  robes  from  the  country,  they  do  not  rob  them,  so 
great  is  the  hardship  they  experience  in  getting  them." 

(Copied  frorri  The  Historical  Magazine,  contributed  by  Shea,  who  trans- 
lated it  from  the  French.) 

The  old  chapel  ai  St.  Ignace  stood  guard  over  the  remains  of  Marquette  till 
1706,  when  it  was  burned  by  Ihe  Jesuits  on  their  departure  from  this  historic 
spot,  and  until  the  autumn  of  1877  no  steps  were  taken  either  to  memo,rize  the 
grave  of  the  missionary  explorer  or  to  recover  his  bones,  at  which  time  in  the 
m(»nth  of  May,  Pierre  Grondau  discovered  the  foundation  waH'r  -f  a  small  build- 
ing, the  stones  bearing  the  marks  of  fire.  The  loc  accordt.d  with  the  des- 
cription of  the  spot  marked  in  La  Hontan's  map,  originally  published  in  France 
in  1703,  and  republished  in  London  in  1772,  as  the  site  of  the  house  of  the 
Jesuits. 

By  direction  of  Father  Jacker,  village  priest,  further  excavations  were  made  the 
same  year,  and  conclusive  proofs  of  the  identity  of  the  spot  as  the  grave  of  Mar- 
quette were  obtained.  The  spot  where  the  altar  of  the  Virgin  had  stood  was 
found,  and  buried  in  front  of  it  were  wrought  iron  nails,  a  hinge,  and  charred- 
wood.  These  relics,  and  a  large  piece  of  birch  bark,  in  a  good  state  of  preserva 
tion,  were  within  the  walls  of  a  vault,  which  walls  were  of  cedar  still  partially 
preserved.     The  bones  were  nearly  all  turned  to  dust,  two  only  being  found. 

The  foregoing  facts  were  obtained  from  a  paper  read  before  the  Chicago  His- 
torical Society,  Oct.  i6th,  1877,  by  Mr.  Cecil  Barnes,  a  resident  of  Chicago,  who 
was  an  eye-witness,  having  assisted  in  the  excavation. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Ft.  Catarauqid  huilt  at  the  Outlet  of  Ldke  Ontario — La  Salle 
arrives  in  Canada — His  Ambitious  Plans — He  builds  a  Ves- 
sel for  Navigating  the  Lakes — It  sails  for  Green  Bay.,  and 
is  sent  back  Laden  vdth  Furs — La  Salle  arrives  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Joseph  and  builds  a  Fort — Goes  to  the  Illinois 
River  and  commences  Building  a  Vessel  to  Explore  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  its  Mouth — Hennepin  starts  to  Frplora  the  Uj)per 
Mississippi — His  Captivity — Hu  Lhut  among  the  Sioux — Lo 
Salle  returns  to  Canada  to  raise  Recruits — Bad  Neivs  from 
Ft.  Creve-CcBur — Retribution — Irotjuois  Invasion  of  the  Illi- 
nois Country — Indian  Trading  Policy — Desperate  Exploit  of 
Tonty — Council  with  the  Western  Iribes — La  Salle'' s  Platis 
Res  umed — Success. 

The  journey  of  Marquette  and  Joliet  had  outHned  a  work  far 
beyond  the  conipre]iensi<)n  of  any  one  at  that  time,  and  to  utih'ze 
it  was  too  heavy  an  undertaking  even.for  all  the  French  forces  in 
Oanada,  till  ample  preparations  could  be  made,  in  the  way  of 
building  forts  to  connect  Quel)ec  to  the  Illinois  country.  The 
French  liad  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Western  tribes,  but  their 
communication  with  them  was  impossible  unless  the  Iroquois 
could  be  propitiated ;  for  these  tribes  held  the  whole  present 
State  of  New  York,  and  not  only  did  their  canoes  sweep  Lake 
Ontario,  but  their  war  parties  often  scoured  the  country  north  of 
it*    Frontenac,  a  man  of  distinguished  ability,  was  then  Gover- 

*  In  1649,  an  unusually  fearful  Iroquois  invasion  was  visited  upon  the  'luron 
tribes,  who  were  allies  of  the  French,  and  amonp  whom  successful  missions  had 
been  established.  These  were  destroyed,  and  two  heroic  missionaries,  Rrebeuf 
and  Lalemant,  refusing  to  leave  their  charge  in  the  hour  of  danger,  fell  before  the 
merciless  invaders.  Tiie  following  account  of  their  death  is  copied  from  Park- 
man's  Je-^uits  in  America  : 

"On  the  afternoon  uf  the  sixteenth — the  day  when  the  two  priests  were  captured 
— Rrebeuf  was  led  apiirt,  and  bound  to  a  stake.  He  seemed  more  concerne<l  for 
his  captive  converts  than  for  himself,  and  addressed  them  in  a  loud  voice,  exhort- 
ing them  to  suffer  patiently,  and  promising  Heaven  as  their  reward.  The  Iio- 
quois,  incensed,  scorched  him  from  head  to  foot,  to  silence  him  ;  whereupon,  in 
tlie  tone  of  a  master,  he  threatened  them  with  everlasting  flames,  for  persecutinjj 
the  worshipers  of  God.  As  he  continued  to  speak,  with  voice  and  countenance 
unchanged,  they  cut  away  his  lower  lip  and  thrust  a  red  hot  iron  down  his  throa'.. 


36  La  Salle  Arrives  in  Canada. 

nor  of  Canada,  and,  with  a  view  to  Western  progress,  in  1073,.. 
had  convened  a  council  with  the  Iroquois,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake- 
Ontario,  to  obtain  permission  of  them  to  build  a  fort.  In  this- 
he  was  successful,  and  the  fort  was  constructed  at  once,  and 
named  Ft.  Catarauqui.  This  was  a  great  point  gained  by  the 
French,  for  it  not  only  served  as  a  barrier  against  the  recurrence 
of  an  Iroquois  invasion  of  Canada,  but  it  brought  French  goods 
into  a  more  direct  competition  with  the  Dutch  trade  at  Albany, 
by  the  facilities  which  the  fort  offered  as  a  trading  post. 

Conspicuous  among  the  adventurous  explorers  of  Canada  at  that 
time,  was  Robert  Cavelier,  known  in  history  by  the  name  of  La- 
Salle.  He  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant  living  at  llouen, 
France,  from  which  place  he  came  to  Canada  in  the  spring  ot 
1666.  His  seven  years'  life  in  American  wilds  previous  to  Mar- 
quette's discovery  of  the  Mississippi  river,  was  largely  spent  in 
exploring  the  interior.  One  of  his  expeditions  was  made  across  the 
Iroquois  country  to  the  Ohio  river,  and  down  its  channel  us  far  as 
the  falls  at  Louisville.  As  might  be  supposed,  the  actual  discov- 
ery of  the  Mississippi  stimulated  La  Salle's  ambition  to  higher 
aims  than  ever.  That  it  emptied  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and 
not  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  was  now  his  settled  belief,  and,  peer- 
ing into  the  future,  he  foresaw  with  a  penetrating  eye  the  yet 
unmeasured  volume  of  trade  which  would  one  day  pour  througii 
the  deltas  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea.  There  was  enchantment 
in  the  thought  that  he  should  be  the  instrument  by  which  this 
would  be  thrown  into  the  lap  of  France,  and  to  accomplish  this 


He  still  held  his  tall  form   erect  and   defiant,  with  no  sign  or  sound  of  pain  ;  and 
they  tried  another  means  to  overcome  him.     They  led  out  Lalemant,  that  BrebeuT 
might  see  him  tortured.     They  had  lied  strips  of  bark,  smeared  with  pitch,  aboui 
his  naked    body.     When  he  saw  the    condition  of  his  Superior,  he  could  not  liidc 
his   agitation,  and   called  out  to  him,  with  a  broken  voice,  in   the  words  of  Saint 
Paul,   '  We  are  made  a  spectacle  to  the  world,  to  angels,  and  to  men.'     Then  he 
threw  himself  at  Brebeuf's  feet;  upon  which  the  Iroquois  seized  him,  made  him 
fast  to  a  slake,  and  set  tire  to  the  bark  that  enveloped  him.     As  the  flame  rose,  In- 
threw  his  arms  upward,  svilh  a  shriek  of  supplication  to  Heaven.     Next  they  hung 
around  Brebeuf's  neck  a  collar  made  of  hatchets  heated  red  hot ;  but  the  indom 
itable  priest  stood  like  a  rock.     A  Huron  in  the  crowd,  who  had  been  a  convert  of 
the  mission,  but  was  now  an  Iroquois    by  adoption,  called  out,  with  the   malice  of 
a  renegade,  to  pour  hot  water  on  their  heads,  since  they  had  poured  so  much  cold 
water  on  those  of  others.     The  kettle  was  accordingly  slung,  and  the  water  boileil 
and  poured  slowly  on  the  heads  of  the  two  missionaries.     '  We  baptize  you,'  they 
cried,    •  that  you    may  be  happy  in    Heaven  ;    for  nobody  can  be  saved  without  a 
good  baptism.'     Brebeuf  would  not  flinch  ;  and,  in  a  rage,  they  cut  strips  of  fle.sli 
from  his  limbs,  and  devoured  them  before  his  eyes.     Other  renegade  Hurons  call 
ed  out  to  him,   'You  told  us  that  the  more  one  suffers  on  earth,  the  happier  he  is 
in  Heaven.     We  wish  to  make  you  happy  ;  we  torment  you  because  we  love  you  ; 
and  you  ought  to  thank  us  for  it.'     After  a  succession  of  other  revolting  tortures, 
tiiey  scalped  him  ;  when,  seeing  him  nearly  dead,  they  laid  open  his  breast,  and 
came  in  a  crowd  to  drink   the  blood  of  so  valiant  an   enemy,  thinking  to  imbih< 
with  it  some  portion  of  his  courage.     A  chief  then  tore  out  his  hearty  and  devov< 
ed  it." 


First  Vessel  on  the  Lakes.  37 

■end  became  the  idol  of  his  imagination  till  death.  Intent  upon 
the  fulfillment  of  those  designs,  he  sailed  for  France  in  the  autumn 
of  1674,  the  next  year  iuter  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi. 

Frontenac  and  La  Saiie  were  on  the  most  friendly  terms,  for 
they  were  no  rivals.  La  Salle  did  not  envy  him  as  governor, 
because  he  aimed  at  higher  fame  than  could  come  from  the  vice- 
roy's chair  of  a  province.  Nor  did  Frontenac  envy  La  Salle  as 
-an  explorer,  especially  as  he  felt  an  assurance  that  he  should  be 
a  sharer  in  any  honors  growing  out  of  his  discoveries.  He  there- 
fore gave  La  Salle  letters  of  the  highest  commendation  to  the 
court  of  France,  which  insured  him  a  favorable  hearing.  Louis 
XIV.,  the  king,  gave  him  the  order  of  knighthood  and  granted 
him  a  seigniory  of  land  adjacent  1o  Ft.  Catarauqui.  Keturning 
to  Canada,  he  rebuilt  the  f  >rt  with  substantial  walls  of  stcme, 
within  two  years,  and  cliangod  its  name  to  Frontenac.  The  next 
step  was  to  build  a  tort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  river.  By 
dint  of  great  exertions  and  profuse  presents  to  the  Seneca  tribe 
of  the  Iroquois  Nation,  he  obtained  reluctant  ])ermission  to  do 
this,  and  also  to  build  a  vessel  above  the  falls  of  Niagara,  with 
which  to  navigate  the  lakes.  The  fort  having  been  finished,  the 
vessel  was  nex  completed,  and  launched  early  in  the  sju-iiig  ol 
1G79.  It  was  'jamed  the  Griffin,  in  honor  of  the  family  arms  oi 
Frontenac.  The  immediate  design  of  this  vessel  was  to  convey 
materials  wherewith  to  build  another  vessel  on  the  IlLinois  river, 
with  which  to  navigate  the  Mississi))pi  to  its  mouth.  This  mis- 
sion executed,  the  ex])loiing  party  were  to  set  sail  for  France, 
.after  taking  formal  possession  of  the  Mississip[>i  valley  in  the 
name  of  the  French  king. 

Beyond  these  designs  was  another  less  practical  one,  which 
contemplated  a  raid  on  the  Spanish  province  of  Mexico,  at  the 
head  often  thousand  Indians,  for  the  puri)()se  of  reducing  it  to  a 
French  province.  This  latter  madcap  scheme  of  I^a  Salle's  must 
have  had  its  origin  in  the  inspirations  of  a  forest  life,  which  have 
often  turned  the  brain  of  otherwise  able-minded  men  into  utoj)i- 
.  an  channels. 

Soon  as  the  vessel  was  finished  it  was  launched,  and  anchored 
in  the  stream  as  a  measure  of  safety  lest  the  Senecas  might,  in  a 
,  tit  of  jealousy,  set  tire  to  it.  On  the  7th  of  August,  everything 
was  made  ready.  The  sailors  were  at  their  })osts,  some  at  the 
capstan  drawing  her  anchor,  and  others  hoisting  her  canvas  to  the 
first  breezes  that  ever  wafted  a  vessel  over  Lake  Erie.  A  can- 
non was  fired  on  the  occasion,  and  the  Grifiin  gracefully  moved 
away  from  the  shore,  tacking  to  the  larboard  and  starboard  alter- 
nately, in  order  to  make  headway  up  the  Niagara  river,  to  the 
sistonishment  of  the  Indians,  who  beheld  the  strange  spectacle 
tor  the  first  time.     Her  crew  numtiered  about  thirty,  all  told, 


38  Arrival  at  the  St.  Joseph. 

among  whom  were  Fathers  Gabriel  Membre  and  Hennepin, 
Tonty  having  been  sent  in  arlv;iiic<'  to  AricliiliuinfldTiac. 
Tlie  Griffin  sailed  up  Lake  Erie,  up  the  Detroit  river,  and  across 
Lale  Huron  to  Mic]iiliinaf;kinac.  Stopping  here  a  short  tinie^ 
she  became  the  marvel  of  the  Indians,  who  called  her  the  mon- 
ster canoe.  Next  she  proceeded  to  Green  Bay,  landing  at  are 
island  there,  where  her  cargo  M^as  unloaded.  This  consisted  of 
trinkets  for  Indian  traffic  in  part,  but  its  most  valuable  portion 
was  the  materials  wherewith  to  build  another  vessel  on  the  Illi- 
nois river,  such  as  chains,  bolts,  cables,  and  a  blacksmith^s  forge.. 
The  Griffin  was  loaded  with  furs  and  sent  back  from  whence  she 
came,  and  her  unloaded  freight  packed  into  small  boats,  to  be- 
transported  from  thence  to  the  Illinois  river.  For  some  cause,, 
not  now  known.  La  Salle  had  determined  to  make  the  trip  by  the 
way  of  the  St,  Joseph  river,  crossing  the  portage  from  its  elbow 
near  the  present  site  of  South  Bend,  to  the  head-waters  of  the- 
Kankakee  river,  thence  down  stream  till  deep  water  on  the  Illi- 
nois was  reached.  With  this  intent,  he  started  with  seventeen, 
men,  with  his  small  boats,  along  the  western  shore  of  Lake 
Michigan.  The  southern  extremity  of  the  lake  had  to  be  doub- 
led, and  its  eastern  shore  followed  to  the  point  of  destination, 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph.  Tonty  had  been  ordered  to  meet 
him  at  this  place,  with  twenty  men,  from  Michilimackinac. 
While  waiting  for  him,  La  Salle  set  his  men  at  work  to  build  a 
palisaded  fort,  and,  for  the  tirst  time,  the  sound  of  the  axe  and 
saw  rung  along  those  cone-shaped  sand-hills  which  now  teem 
with  an  annual  burden  of  peaches  for  the  Chicago  market.  Is  il 
to  be  wondered  that  La  Salle  should  be  more  favombly  impress 
ed  with  the  large  and  beautiful  river  of  St.  Joseph  than  the  in 
signiilcant  stream  at  Chicago,  whose  mouth  was  almost  closed 
with  a  sand-bar? 

Tonty  arrived  at  the  appointed  spot  at  the  end  of  twenty  days 
when  the  order  was  given  to  advance.  Two  men  were  left  in 
the  lonesome  fort,  and  the  flotilla  paddled  up  the  tranquil  waters^ 
of  the  St.  Joseph  to  the  carrying  place,  where  the  freight  was 
unloaded,  and  with  the  boats,  carried  across  the  dividing  ridge, 
by  a  devious  path,  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Kankakee.  Into- 
this  stream  the  boats  were  launched,  and  loaded  again,  for  tinat 
transportation.  'Twas  a  strange  sight,  to  behold  a  miniature 
army  of  resolute  Frenchmen  threading  their  course  along  the 
sluggish  little  stream,  almost  overlapped  with  water  bushes. 
This  sea  of  mud  is  seldom  entered,  even  now,  except  on  wild 
duck  excursions ;  and  many  an  effeminate  sportsnjan,  who  has 
been  tempted  from  his  luxurious  parlors  in  the  present  Chicago, 
to  invade  these  bottomless  swami)S  on  such  errands,  has  returned 
with  the  ague.     As  La  Salle  passed  along,  the  stream  widened 


Arrival  in  the  Illinois  Country.  39 

and  the  surroundings  improved,  till  he  reached  the  great  village 
of  the  Illinois,  on  the  river  which  still  bears  their  name.  It  was 
on  New  Year's  day  in  1680.  All  was  silent,  for  the  inhabitants 
— braves,  squaws,  pappooses,  and  dogs — had  gone  on  their  tvin- 
ter's  hunt.  La  Salle  was  in  need  of  provisions,  and,  impelled 
by  necessity,  took  from  their  storehouses  corn  enough  to  feed 
his  men,  and  kept  on  his  course  down  the  river.  Arriving  at  the 
present  site  of  Peoria,  he  met  the  returning  Indians.  A  council 
was  convened  at  once,  in  which  La  Salle  made  known  the  nature 
of  his  mission.  First,  he  made  satisfactoi-y  apologies  for  having 
taken  their  corn,  and  paid  them  its  value  in  goods.  His  next 
business  was  to  get  leave  to  build  a  fort  and  also  a  vessel  for  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  This  liberty  was  easil}'  obtained 
from  the  flexible  Illinois  tribes,  whose  jealousy  had  never  been 
aroused  against  the  French.  Work  on  both  was  commenced. 
The  palisaded  fort  was  soon  iiuished.  The  keel  of  the  vessel 
was  laid,  and  its  ribs  placed  in  position,  when  murmirrs  of  discon- 
tent arose  among  the  ship-carpenters,  and  a  few  of  them  desert- 
ed, in  consequence  of  not  being  paid  promptly. 

It  is  no  marvel  that  these  men  should  prefer  the  ease  and  im- 
munity from  care,  which  the  amenities  of  savage  life  oflered  them, 
rather  than  the  service  of  the  austere  and  exacting  La  Salle,  with, 
to  them,  but  a  barren  hope  of  pay,  especially  as  they  did  not 
share  his  hopeful  ambition.  That  La  Salle  did  not  make  proper 
allowance  for  such  contingencies,  was  one  of  the  weak  points 
that  undermined  his  best-laid  plans,  and  robbed  him  of  that  suc- 
cess, which  his  broad-gauge  intellect  and  zeal  deserved.  These 
first  desertions  were  but  a  foretaste  of  that  bitter  cup,  which  his 
overweening  dash  at  the  impracticable  was  preparing  for  him.  We 
have  such  men  among  us  now,  and  perhaps  one  in  a  thousand  of 
them,  by  some  eccentric  turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune,  achieves 
success,  which  example,  like  a  contauion,  seizes  upon  a  thousand 
more,  to  lastly  be  victimized.*  La  Salle,  whose  nature  forbade 

*Tonty,  who  was  an  eye  witness  to  the  whole,  in  his  Life  of  La  Salle,  page  35, 
uses  the  following  language  on  the  desertion  of  the  men  : 

"Most  of  our  men  Lieing  discouraged  by  a  long  and  tedious  voyage,  the  end 
whereof  t\iey  could  not  see,  and  weary  of  a  wandering  life  in  forests  and  deserts, 
where  they  had  no  other  company  but  brutes  and  savages,  without  any  guide,  car- 
riage, and  provisions,  could  not  forbear  murmuring  against  the  au;hor  of  so  tire- 
some and  perilous  an  enterprise.-  M.  La  Salle,  whose  penetration  was  extraordin- 
ary, discovered  immediately  their  dissatisfaction,  and  tried  all  possible  means  to 
prevent  the  consequences  thereof.  The  glory  of  the  enterprise,  the  example  of 
the  Spaniards,  the  hopes  of  a  great  booty,  ami  everything  else  that  may  engage 
men,  we  made  use  of  to  encourn'ge  them  and  inspire  them  with  better  seniimenis ; 
but  these  exhortations,  like  oil  ])i)ured  upon  fire,  served  only  to  increase  their  dis- 
satisfaction. What  said  they  ?  '  Must  we  always  be  slaves  to  his  caprices,  and  be 
continually  bubbled  by  his  visions  and  foolish  expectations  ?  and  must  the  fatigues 
we  have  hitheito  undergone  be  used  as  an  a'gument  to  oblige  us  to  go  through 
more  perils,  to  gratify  the  ambition  or  folly  of  a  merciless  man  ?'  " 


40        Hennepin  Sent  to  Explore  the  Upper  Mivsissippi. 

him  to  look  on  but  one  side  of  a  question,  and  that  the  front 
side,  supphed  the  places  of  the  deserters,  by  his  wonderful  faculty 
of  bringing  an  extra  stock  of  energy  into  service,  and  by  these 
means  continued  work  on  the  vessel. 

Of  the  four  priests  who  comprised  the  party  of  adven- 
turers, Hennepin  was  the  least  in  favor.  Ever  prone  to 
intrude  his  advice  unasked,  or  to  attribute  unlucky  incidents 
to  a  neglect  of  his  counsel,  he  became  a  bore,  all  the  less 
endurable,  because  his  sacred  robes  protected  him  from  cen- 
sure.* He  was  ever  pluming  himself,  on  his  self-sacrificing 
spirit  and  willingness  to  undertake  any  enterprise,  however 
dangerous,  providing  it  would  advance  the  Christian  cause  among 
the  heathen,  and  that  his  highest  ambition  was  to  die  in  such  a 
service.  Tiiere  was  no  lack  of  priests  in  the  fort,  and  La  Salle 
conceived  the  thouglit  of  taking  Hennepin  at  his  word,  by  send- 
ing him  on  an  ex])edition  to  explore  the  head-waters  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  astonished  priest  accepted  the  mission,  but  with  a 
bad  grace,  and  started  in  an  open  canoe  with  two  attendants,  on 
the  last  day  of  February,  his  brother  priests  uniting  with  La 
Salle  in  lavishing  upon  him  words  of  c()iisolation,as  he  left  the  fort 
to  push  his  way  among  new  and  unheard-of  tribes  of  savages, 
in  an  equally  unknown  land.  And  here  we  will  leave  La  Salle, 
to  follow  the  fortunes  of  Hennepin  and  his  two  companions, 
Aceau  and  Du  Gay.  They  were  provided  with  an  ample  store 
of  goods,  to  be  used  as  presents  to  the  different  tribes  they  might 
encounter  on  their  way ;  besides  wliich,  were  provisions,  guns 
and  ammunition.  They  glided  down  the  Illinois  river  to  its  con- 
fluence with  the  Mississippi,  and  plied  their  oars- up  the  stream, 
in  oijedience  to  orders.  Game  was  abundant,  and  they  fared 
well  till  the  12th  of  April,  when,  stopi)ing  on  shore  to  roast  a 
\Vild  turkey  for  dinner,  they  beheld  with  consternation  a  war- 
jmrty  of  120  naked  savages,  breaking  the  solemn  silerice  of  the 
uninhabited  [ilace,  with  the  noisy  whooping  of  Indians  on  the 
war  ])ath.  The  little  i)arty  were  immediately  taken  captive,  de- 
spite the  ceremonials  of  the  calumet,  or  the  inevitable  tobacco 
accompanying  it. 

Thev  were  a  band  of  Sioux,  intending  to  make  war  on  the 
Miamis,  in  revenge  for  some  old  scores ;  but  the  raiders  were 
turned  from  their  i)urpose,  when  Hennepin  informed  them,  by 
signs,  that  the  Miamis  were  away  from  home  on  a  hunting  ex- 
cursion. The  next  business  to  be  settled  was  the  fate  of  the 
three  French  captives.  As  to  the  question  whether  they  should 
be  killed,  or  treated  with  hospitality,  there  was  at  first,  a  division 
of  opinion.     Had  the  chivalrous  La  Salle  been  among  the  French 

*  This  analysis  of  his  character  is  drawn  from   Parkman,  who  has  exposed  the 
frailties  of  Hennepin  unsparingly. 


Captivity  of  Hennepin.  41 

party,  his  impressive  dignity  would  have  insured  the  utmost  cour- 
tesy toward  themselves ;  bnt  Hennepin  was  overcome  with  ter- 
ror, and  the  haughty  Sioux  could  have  but  little  respect  for  him. 
After  a  hasty  council,  however,  thej'  concluded  to  spare  the  lives 
of  the  captives,  in  order  to  encourage  more  Frenchmen  to  come 
among  them,  with  the  much-coveted  trinkets,  of  which  it  was 
known  they  had  an  abundance.  But  this  decision  was  not  made 
known  to  the  captives.  On  the  contrary,  Hennepin  was  inform- 
ed by  signs,  amid  a  din  of  wailings,  that  his  head  was  to  be  split 
with  a  war-club.  This  unwelcome  news  drew  forth  from  him 
some  presents,  which  at  least  had  the  eftect  to  postpone  the  exe- 
cution of  sucli  a  cruel  purpose. 

The  Indians  now  concluded  to  return  to  their  home  among  the 
little  lakes  at  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  take  the  captives  with 
them  ;  but  thsy  kept  up  the  practice  of  their  villainous  tricks  to 
extort  goods  from  Hennepin,  till  nearly  his  whole  store  was  ex- 
hausted. Pending  these  griefs,  Heiniepin  sought  consolation  in 
reading  his  morning  devotion  from  his  breviary  ;  but  this  solace 
was  a  fresh  source  of  danger,  for  the  devotional  murraurings  of 
his  voice  were  interpreted  by  the  Indians,  as  a  piece  of  sorcery, 
wliich  might  bring  retribution  upon  themselves.  Hennepin,  ob- 
serving this,  chanted  the  words  in  a  clear,  musical  voice,  which 
amused  instead  of  terrified  his  hearers,  and  satisfied  his  own 
conscience.  The  i)arty  ari'iving  at  the  vicinity  of  St.  Paul,  the 
boats  were  concealed  in  a  thicket,  and  they  started  on  foot  across 
the  country  to  their  respective  lodges. 

*Twas  early  in  May,  but  remnants  of  ice  still  clung  around  the 
shaded  margins  of  river,  lake  and  marsh,  imparting  an  icy  chill 
to  the  waters  through  wliich  the  travelers  passed,  sometimes 
shallow,  and  sometimes  deep  enough  to  swim  them.  Between 
these  low  savannas,  long  stretches  of  high  prairie  had  to  be  tra- 
versed, over  which  the  naked-limbed  Indian  skunmed  along  with 
nimble  stop,  but  the  poor  priest,  shackled  by  his  long  robes, 
lagged  behind  in  sjjite  of  his  utmost  exertion.  Seeing  this,  the 
Indians,  always  fertile  in  expedients,  took  hold  of  his  hands,  one 
on  each  side,  and  pulled  him  along  at  a  rapid  pace,  while  they 
set  fire  to  the  dry  prairie  grass  behind  him,  to  act  as  an  extra 
incentive  to  sj^eed. 

Five  davs  of  this  exluiustive  travel  brouc;ht  them  to  the  Indian 
town  in  the  region  of  Mille  Lac.  Here  the  captives  were  adopt- 
ed, each  by  a  different  chief,  and  consequently  separated  from 
each  other.  Hennepi-i  was  taken  by  Aquipaguetin,  the  head 
«hief  of  the  party  and  his  most  persistent  persecuter  on  the  way. 
His  home  was  on  an  island  in  Lake  Mille  Lac,  where  five  wives 
and  a  due  proportion  of  children  paid  savage  courtesies  to  their 
lord  and  master.     Hennepin  was  well  received.     A  sweating 


42  Life  Among  the  Sioux. 

"bath  was  given  him,  and  his  mutilated  feet  rubbed  with  wildcat's 
oil,  under  an  impression  that,  by  this  process,  the  agility  of  that 
animal  might  be  measurably  imparted  to  the  patient.  He  was 
fed  on  a  short  allowance  of  wild  rice  and  dried  whortleberries, 
of  which  the  Indians  had  laid  in  no  over-stock  for  winter's  use ; 
but  all  shared  alike,  except  sometimes  a  little  preference  shown 
by  the  squaws  for  their  own  children. 

Ouasicoudie  was  the  highest  in  rank,  as  chief  of  the  Sioux  of 
this  region,  and  he  had  no  sooner  learned  of  the  arrival  of  the 
three  French  captives,  and  the  dastardly  tricks  by  which  Henne- 
pin had  been  robbed,  than  he  berated  Aquipaguetin  severely,  for 
he  had  been  the  instigator  of  those  villainous  devices,  which  the 
high-minded  Sioux  discarded  as  a  nation. 

As  the  weary  days  wore  along,  the  supply  of  food  diminished 
and  hunger  began  to  warn  these  improvident  children  of  nature, 
that  something  must  be  done  to  appease  it.  For  this  purpose,  a 
buffalo  hunt  was  determined  on  in  early  summer,  and  Hennepin 
was  promised  that  he  might  accompan}'  them.  This  was  good 
news  to  him,  as  it  gave  promise  of  a  plentiful  supply  of  food ; 
but  inasmuch  as  he  was  to  accompany  the  grim  father  of  his 
adoption,  Aquipaguetin,  he  feared  that  fresh  abuses  were  in  store 
for  him,  when  away  from  the  influences  of  Ouasicoudie.  To 
avert  this  new  danger,  the  reverend  father  told  the  Indians,  that 
a  party  of  Frenchmen  were  to  meet  him,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wis- 
consin river,  in  the  summer,  with  a  stock  of  goods. "^ 

The  time  came  for  starting  on  the  proposed  buffalo  hunt,  and 
the  250  braves,  with  their  squaws  and  children,  and  boats  enough 
to  carry  them  were  promptly  on  the  spot.  Accau  and  Du  Gay 
had  a  boat  of  their  own,  a  present  from  the  Indians,  into  whose 

food  graces  they  had  grown  since  their  captivity.  But  poor 
[ennepin  was  no  favorite.  Boat  after  boat  passed  the  forsaken 
priest,  as  he  stood  on  the  riv^r  bank  begging  a  passage.  Even 
the  two  Frenchmen  refused  to  take  him  in  ;  and  but  for  the  con- 
descension of  one  of  the  crew  in  the  rear,  the  missionary  would 
have  been  left  alone,  in  those  distant  and  savage  realms  of  the 
wilderness.  Arriving  at  the  mouth  of  Rum  river,  they  all  en- 
camped C!i  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  Very  short  rations  of 
dried  buffalo  meat  was  their  fare,  except  what  unripe  berries 
could  be  gleaned  from  the  uncultivated  face  of  nature,  which  was 

*  Hennepin  affirms  that  La  Salle  had  promised  this  to  him  when  he  left  Ft. 
Creve-Coeur ;  but  tie  truth  of  this  assertion  may  well  be  quesiioned,  especially 
since  Hennepin's  veracity  has  been  tarnished  by  the  mendacious  book  of  travels 
which  he  published  on  his  return  to  France.  In  this  book  he  claimed  to  have 
explored  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth.  It  had  a  large  sale,  and  won  for  him  a  rep- 
«i»iion  which  was  as  short-lived  as  his  motive  in  writing  it  was  contemptible,  inas- 
siach  as  his  aim  was  to  rob  the  true  explorers  of  the  lower  Mississippi  of  the  hon- 
«r<«  due  to  them  alone. 

f 


Arrival  of  Du  Lhut.  4$ 

spread  out  in  appalling  amplitude  around  them.  Hennepin,  as- 
might  be  supposed,  was  disgusted  with  Indian  life,  and  so  wa* 
Du  Gay.  The  two,  therefore,  obtained  permission  of  Ouasi- 
coudie,  who  had  always  been  their  friend,  to  leave  the  encamp- 
ment, and  go  and  meet  the  expected  Frenchmen  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Wisconsin  river.  Meantime,  Accau's  highest  ambition  wa» 
to  remain  with  his  savage  associates.* 

Equipped  with  a  birchen  canoe,  a  knife,  a  gun,  and  an  earthen 

Eot  of  Sioux  manufacture,  in  which  to  boil  meat,  the  Fatlier  and 
►u  Gay,  his  companion,  started  down  the  river.  Tliey  arrived 
at  the  falls  on  St.  Anthony's  day,  and  Hennepin,  in  honor  of  the 
Saint,  gave  them  his  name,  which  they  still  retain.  Thence  they 
made  their  way  down  the  river  by  slow  stages,  for  they  were- 
obliged  to  resort,  in  part,  to  turtles  and  fish  for  subsistence,  inas- 
much as  their  stock  of  ammunition  was  getting  short ;  and  to- 
capture  these  in  sufficient  quantities  to  appease  hunger  caused 
aauch  detention.  While  the  travelers  were  urging  their  way 
toward  the  Wisconsin — of  course,  with  the  intention  of  ultimately 
reaching  Canada — they  were  disagreeably  surprised  to  see  Aqui- 
paguetin,  with  ten  warriors,  coming  down  the  river.  Hennepiii) 
feared  the  worst,  but  no  harm  was  offered  him.  Tlie  chief  was- 
on  his  way  to  meet  the  French  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin, 
for  purposes  of  traffic,  and,  after  a  brief  salutation,  swept  past 
the  Frenchmen.  In  three  days  he  returned,  having  found  nc 
French  traders  there.  Approaching  Hennepin,  he  gave  him  a. 
severe  scolding,  and  passed  along  up  the  river,  to  the  great  relief 
of  the  terrified  Father.  The  travelers  had  now  but  ten  charges 
of  powd(ir  left,  which  was  too  small  a  supply  to  last  them  on  so 
long  a  trip  as  the  route  to  Canada.  In  this  emergency,  they 
determined  to  again  join  the  Sioux  hunters,  who  were  now  en- 
camped on  the  Chippewa  river,  an  affluent  of  Lake  Pepin,  not 
far  distant.  They  soon  found  them,  and,  happily  for- the  wan- 
derers, in  a  good  humor,  for  they  had  been  unusually  successful 
in  killing  buffalo. 

Exciting  news  was  soon  brought  to  their  encampment  by  two- 
old  squaws.  A  war  party  of  Sioux  had  met  five  white  men 
coming  into  their  country  from  Lake  Superior,  by  the  way  of  the 
St.  Croix  river.  Much  curiosity  was  manifested  by  Hennepin,  to- 
know  who  the  white  explorers  were.  The  hunt  was  over,  and 
as  the  Indians  were  to  return  at  once,  their  curiosity  was  soon  to- 
be  gratified,  for  Hennepin  and  his  compi.nion  were  to  return  with, 
them.  On  arriving  at  the  present  site  of  St.  Paul,  the  expected 
visitors  were   met,  and   they  proved  to  be  no  other  than  the^ 

*  Since  Accau  had  declared  his  resolution  to  remain  with  the  Sioux,  Du  Gay  haA 
made  ample  apologies  to  Hennepin  for  having  refused  him  a  place  in  his  boat  o» 
itaiting  from  Mille  Lac,  and  they  were  now  restored  to  good  fellowship  again^.^ 


44  La  Salle  Starts  for  Canada. 

famous  explorer,  Daniel  Greysolon  Du  Lhut,  with  four  compan- 
ions. This  master-spirit  of  the  forest  had  been  two  years  among 
the  far-off  lodges  of  the  Sioux,  and  other  tribes  to  the  north,  ex- 
ploring, like  La  Salle,  under  the  patronage  of  Frontenac. 

Having  learned  that  three  white  men  were  in  the  country,  he 
•came  to  meet  them,  with  a  determination  to  drive  them  away,  if 
they  were  of  any  other  nationality  but  French.  The  comiuand- 
dng  presence  of  Du  Lhut,  not  surpassed  even  by  La  Salle,  won 
the  utmost  respect  from  the  Sioux  at  once.  Tlie  whole  party 
ireturned  north  to  the  region  of  Mille  Lac,  and  a  grand  feast  of 
■honor  was  spread  for  the  distinguished  guests. 

As  autumn  approached,  the  Frenchmen  made  preparations  to 
Teturn  to  Canada,  to  which  the  Sioux  interposed  no  objections, 
assured,  as  they  were,  by  Du  Lhut,  that  they  would  soon  return 
-with  goods  for  traffic. 

Accau,  by  this  time  sated  with  the  society  of  his  late  associates, 
■was  willing  to  join  Du  Lhut,  and  the  whole  party,  eight  in  all, 
■started  for  Canada,  by  the  way  of  the  Wisconsin  river. 

The  travels  of  Du  Lhut  and  the  captivity  of  Hennepin  had  made 
iknown  to  the  French  the  general  features  of  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi, but  the  outlet  of  this  stream  was  still  a  mystery.  It  had 
been  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years  since  the  miserable 
•remnant  of  De  Soto's  Spanish  adventurers  had  fled  down  its  cur- 
rent in  hot  haste,  closely  pursued  by  the  exasperated  natives  of 
•the  country,  whom  they  had  phuidered,  and  little  or  nothing  had 
been  given  to  the  world  respecting  its  physical  aspect.  La  Salle 
was  the  destined  one  to  bring  to  light  this  majestic  chasm,  which 
opened  through  the  heart  of  a  continent. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Ft.  Creve-CoRur,  and  follow  the  invincf- 
ble  explorer  through  the  thorny  path  which  still  intervened  be- 
tween him  and  his  destination.  Even  before  Hennepin  had 
started  from  Ft.  Creve-Coeur,  he  had  felt  the  positive  necessity  of  a 
fresh  supply  of  men  to  fill  the  places  of  the  deserters;  for  his 
force  was  now  too  small  to  even  continue  work  on  the  vessel. 
The  fort  was  now  finished,  and  its  name,  Creve-Coeur  ("broken 
heart"),  sufficiently  symbolized  the  failnre  of  all  his  plans  thus 
far,  but  was  no  index  to  his  unconquerable  resolution.  Spring 
was  now  opening,  with  its  discomfortnre  of  mud  and  swollen 
streams;  but,  regardless  of  these  obstacles,  he  formed  the  reso- 
lution to  start  for  Canada,  to  obtain  the  necessary  recruits.  Hen- 
nepin had  no  sooiier  left  the  fort  than  La  Salle  made  preparations 
for  his  departure.  On  the  2d  of  March  everything:  was  in  readi- 
ness. Five  companions  were  selected  to  accompany  him,  one  of 
whom  was  Nika,  a  faithful  Indian  servant,  whose  skill  as  a  hunter 
and  knowledge  of  woodcraft  was  indispensable  to  the  safety  of 
ihe  partv 


The   Wilderness  21  arch.  4& 

They  cotninenced  their  journey  in  a  canoe,  and  packing  into  it 
a  slender  outfit  ofbhinkets.  guns,  and  the  iiievital)lo  bag  of  iioin-  . 
iny,  they  tugged  up  the  IlHnois  river  till  the  mouth  ot  the  Kan- 
kakee was  reached.  Up  this  stream  they  plied  their  oars  till 
they  came  about  to  the  present  site  of  Joliet.  Here  the  ice  of 
winter  was  still  unbroken,  and  the  canoe  had  to  be  abandoned. 
Blankets,  guns  UTid  other  luggjige,  were  now  packed  on  their 
shoulders,  and  they  took  up  their  march  through  the  oozy  savan- 
nas, which  intervened  between  them  and  Ft.  Miamis,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  which  was  the  lirst  point  to  be- 
reached.  Taking  their  course  to  the  northeast,  according  to 
their  best  knowledge  of  locality,  after  a  few  days  of  toilsome 
travel,  and  as  mjmy  nights  of  cold  comfort  on  the  damp  gr<nu)d, 
they  were  gladdened  by  the  sight  ot  Lake  Michigan.  The  point 
at  which  they  struck  it  was  but  a  few  miles  south  of  Chicago, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet.*  Following  the  shore  of  the 
lake,  around  its  southern  extremity,  on  the  24th  they  arrived  at 
the  fort,  where  its  lonesome  garrison  of  two  men  still  stood  sen- 
tinels of  the  forest,  like  hermits,  cut  oif  from  all  communicatioa 
with  the  world. 

When  La  Salle  had  sent  his  vessel  back  down  the  lakes  from. 
Green  Bay,  loaded  with  furs,  he  gave  orders  to  have  her  return 
to  Ft.  Miamis  for  a  second  trip;  and,  notwithstanding  no  tidings 
had  reached  him  of  the  vessel  since  her  departure,  he  had  not 
entirely  relinquished  all  hopes  that  she  had  arrived  at  this  place, 
in  obedience  to  his  orders,  and  that  he  might  yet  recruit  his  ex- 
hausted finances  from  the  sale  of  her  cargo ;  but  these  nopes 
were  not  realized — neither  the  vessel  nor  any  news  of  her  was 
here.f  The  Grifiin  never  had  been  heard  from  since  she  left 
Green  Bay ;  no  doubt  could  now  be  entertained,  that  she  had 
been  lost  during  the  heavy  gales  that  prevailed  soon  after  she 
set  sail  on  the  great  wilderness  of  waves  that  the  lakes  then  were, 
without  a  lighthouse  or  a  chart,  to  guide  the  pioneer  bark  along^ 
the  unknown  shore.  Without  taking  time  to  rest,  La  Salle,  with 
his  party,  again  plunged  into  the  leafless  forests,  striking  their 
course  toward  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Erie.  It  was  an 
unknown  country.  With  no  other  guide  but  a  pocket  compass, 
the  travelers  pushed  through  thickets  and  swamps,  weighted 
down  with  camping  equipments  and  guns.  After  a  few  days' 
travel,  they  found  themselves  pursued  by  a  band  of  Indians  sup- 
posed to  be  Iroquois.  For  several  days  their  footsteps  were 
dogged,  and  ail  attempts  to 'elude  their  pursuit  were  unavailing. 

*  Parkman's  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  p.  178. 

f  In  obedience  to  orders  from  La  Salle,  the  two  men  at  the  fort  had  made  a  tour 
around  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake,  to  get  news  from  the  Griffin,  but  nothing: 
could  be  learned  of  her  fate. 


46  Arrival  in  Canada. 

The  leaf-strewn  ground  was  set  on  fire,  but  the  wily  enemy  fol- 
lowed their  tracks  like  bloodhounds.  Lest  they  might  come  up- 
on them  in  the  night,  no  camp-fires  were  made.  The  cold  supper 
of  dried  meat  was  eaten  in  silence,  each  wrapped  himself  in 
his  blankets,  and  laid  down  to  sleep,  knowing  that  an  enemy  was 
near,  thirsting  for  their  blood.  Thus  they  proceeded  on  their  way 
till  the  second  of  April,  on  which  night  the  cold  was  too  severe 
to  bear,  and  a  fire  was  kindled  to  thaw  their  clothes,  which  were 
fitiflfened   with  ice.     No  sooner  than  the  light  was  descried,  their 

Eursuers  came  upon  them  with  terrific  yells ;  but,  happily  for 
a  Salle's  party,  a  deep  stream  intervened  between  his  camp 
and  the  hostile  party.  La  Salle  bold!}'  advanced  to  its  banks  to 
get  a  sight  at  the  enemy,  when  a  parley  ensued,  which  resulted 
in  ascertaining  them  to  be  a  band  of  Mascoutins,  and  not  L'O- 
quois,  as  at  first  supposed.  The  mistake  was  mutual,  as  the 
Mascoutins  also  supposed  La  Salle's  party  to  be  a  band  of  Iro- 
quois, to  meet  whom  was  the  signal  for  a  fight.  This  danger 
averted,  they  continued  their  journey  till  the  Detroit  river  was 
reached.  Two  of  his  men  were  sent  from  this  place  to  Miohili- 
mackinac;  and  with  the  remaining  two,  among  whom  was  Nika, 
he  crossed  the  Detroit  river  on  a  raft,  and  bent  his  course  toward 
the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie;  reaching  which  place,  a  canoe 
was  made,  and  the  travelers  started  for  Ft.  Niagara,  coasting  the 
northern  shore  of  the  lake. 

It  was  past  the  middle  of  April  when  they  arrived.  The  hard- 
ships of  the  journey  had  told  fearfully  upon  his  men.  Two  of 
them  had  become  unfit  for  active  duty  before  the  Detroit  was 
reached  ;  and  now  the  other  two,  one  of  whom  was  the  hardy 
Nika,  were  unable  to  proceed  farther,  while  La  Salle  himself 
was  in  the  flush  of  strength  and  vigor — a  striking  proof  of  the 
power  of  a  great  mind  over  the  body.  Here  news  of  fresh  dis- 
asters greeted  him  again.  A  vessel  laden  with  stoi  cs  for  him, 
from  France,  was  wrecked  on  entering  the  St.  Lawrence  river ; 
but  this  was  not  all.  His  envious  enemies  in  Canada  had  circu- 
lated various  evil  reports  about  him,  and  not  oi-ly  estranged 
some  of  his  friends,  but  had  induced  a  new  recruit  of  men  from 
France,  destined  for  his  service,  to  desert  him.  Never  before  had 
such  a  combination  ot  disasters  overtaken  him.  The  very  ele- 
ments seemed  to  have  consfHred  to  destroy  what  the  treachery 
of  his  supposed  friends  could  not.  In  this  extremity,  he  select- 
ed three  fresh  men  from  Ft.  Niagara,  and  started  for  Montreal. 
On  the  6th  of  May,  he  arrived  at  !t't.  Frontenac,  on  his  way, 
which  was  the  spot  where  his  knighthood  had  been  endowed 
with  a  seigniory  of  land.  Here  he  might  have  become  the 
wealthiest  man  in  Canada,  could  he  have  contented  himself  to 
parcel  out  these  lands  to  the  peasantry  of  Canada,  and  receive 
rents  from  them,  like  other  noolemen.     But  these  honors  would 


The  Deserters.  47 

have  been  stale  and  insipid  to  the  liieh-minded  explorer,  whose 
mind  ran  on  the  destinies  of  New  France.  When  he  reached 
Montreal,  his  diirnitied  bearing  was  a  matter  of  astonishment  to 
his  enemies,  and  was  not  long  in  restoring  the  coniidence  of  his 
friends.  The  grandeur  of  his  still  unshaken  resolution  was  con- 
sistent with  the  even  grander  schemes  in  which  he  had  enlisted 
for  life ;  and,  in  less  than  a  week  after  his  arrival,  both  men  and 
money  were  placed  at  his  disposal,  to  renew  his  plans.  Active 
preparations  were  now  made  for  his  departure  to  the  Illinois 
country  with  his  new  recruits ;  but  before  these  were  completed, 
he  received  bad  news  from  Ft.  Creve-Coeur,  by  messengers  sent 
from  Tonty.  The  fort  had  been  ])Iini<lered  and  entirely  destroy- 
ed by  its  own  garrison,  all  having  joined  in  the  infamous  work 
except  Tonty  and  four  or  live  others  of  his  companions,  who 
were  still  true  to  La  Salle's  interest 

The  renegades  took  the  advantage  of  a  brief  absence  of  Tontv 
to  accomplish  the  work ;  and,  ere  his  return,  they  liad  robbed 
the  place  of  everything  of  value  which  could  be  carried  away, 
and  threw  into  the  river  what  they  could  not  steal.  Next,  they 
went  to  Ft.  Mianiis  and  committed  similar  depredations,  and 
closed  their  career  of  robbery  at  Michiliinackinac,  by  stealing  a 
quantitv  of  furs  at  that  place,  which  belonged  to  La  Salle. 
Soon  after  this  unwelcome  news  came,  two  other  messengers 
arrived,  and  informed  La  Salle  that  tlie  robbers,  numbering 
twelve  men,  in  three  gangs,  were  now  on  their  way  to  Ft.  Fron- 
tenac,  with  the  intention  of  killing  him  at  sight.  Selecting  nine 
of  his  bravest  men,  he  now  resolved  to  waylay  them  ere  their 
arrival.  In  this  he  was  successful,  and  soon  returned  to  Ft.  Fron- 
tenac  with  the  whole  party  as  prisoners,  except  two  who  had 
been  killed  in  the  encounter. 

It  was  now  of  the  utmost  importance  that  he  should  make  all 
haste  to  the  Illinois  country,  to  relieve  Tonty  of  the  perils  which 
environed  hitn.  On  the  Idth  of  August  everything  was  made 
ready,  and  he  embarked  from  Ft.  Frontenac  with  his  new  coni- 
raana,  numbering  twenty-five  men.  He  chose  his  route  by  the 
way  of  Lake  Simcoe  and  along  the  shores  of  Georgian  Bay  to 
Michilimackinac.  From  this  place  he  started  in  advance,  with 
twel''e  men,  and  left  the  rest  to  transport  the  heavy  materials, 
under  command  of  La  F<»rest.  Coasting  along  the  east  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  he  soon  came  to  the  St.  Joseph,  and,  as  he  ex- 
pected, found  Ft.  Miami*  in  ruins.  Leaving  five  of  his  men 
here  to  rebuild  the  fort  and  await  the  approach  of  La  Forest,  he 
pushed  on  by  the  same  route  he  had  traveled  before,  through  the 
perplexing  mazes  of  the  Kankakee,  in  its  mud  bound  circlinga. 
No  signs  of  human  life  were  seen ;  but  when  the  Illinois 
river  was  reached,  herds  of  bufialo  made  their  appearance, 
•and    the    scene   was    changed.      Hurrying    along    in    painfal 


48  Iroquois  Invasion  of  tlie  Illinois  Country. 

suspense,  the  site  of  the  once  familiar  Indian  town  was 
reached ;  but  instead  of  a  wild,  tuniultuuiis  scene  of  Indians 
dancing  grotes(pe  tigures  or  grouped  ;u-ound  in  lazy  dalliance,  a 
ghastly  spectacle  cf  human  skulls  projecting  from  the  ramparts 
of  the  ruined  fort  greeted  his  eyes.  The  Iroquois  had  been 
there  and  swept  away  every  sign  of  life,  not  even  respecting  the 
tombs  of  the  dead ;  for  these  had  been  desecrated,  and  masses 
of  fetid  flesh  and  disjointed   bones  lay  scattered  over  the  green. 

This  crushing  disaster  had  iailen  upon  La  Salle  when  hope 
was  reviving  of  a  speedy  accomplishment  of  his  plans.  Search- 
ing among  the  slain,  all  the  while  feariiig  he  should  lind  Tonty 
and  his  three  or  tour  faithful  comrades,  a  painful  sense  of  his  for- 
lorn situation  came  over  him  ;  but  he  w^as  calm,  and  betrayed  no 
signs  of  despair.  xV  night  of  horrors  succeeded,  in  which  sleep 
was  impossible.  Gangs  of  wolves,  quarreling  over  the  spoils  of 
battle-field,  fell  upon  their  ears,  as  they  listened  in  silence  f(»r 
the  war-wli(^op  of  the  triumphant  foe.  The  next  morning,  La 
Salle,  with  four  of  his  men,  followed  the  path  of  the  fugitives 
and  their  pursuers  down  the  river,  to  see  if  any  tidings  could  be 
heard  of  Tonty.  He  kept  on  till  he  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  and  here  for  the  first  time  beheld  the  majestic  Father  of 
Waters,  whose  accumulated  floods  were  gathered  from  the  far- 
oft'  realms  of  Nature's  unoccupied  domain,  still  slumbering  in 
secret  recluses.  M either  Tonty  nor  any  signs  of  life  could  be 
found,  and  he  returned  to  the  spot  where  lie  had  left  his  three 
companions.  From  here,  the  whole  party,  after  loading  them- 
selves with  half-burnt  corn,  which  the  destroyers  had  set  tire  to, 
started  for  Ft.  Miamis  on  the  St.  Joseph  river,  arriving  at  the 
place  in  January,  1681.  Here  he  found  his  command,  who, 
according  to  his  orders,  had  followed  on  with  the  baggage,  after 
he  had  left  Michilinuickinac,  a  few  weeks  before,  in  such  haste, 
to  relieve  Tonty. 

All  his  plans  had  miscarried ;  here  were  his  men  huddled  to- 
gether witliin  the  scanty  limits  of  Ft.  Miamis,  but  his  base  of 
operations  on  the  Illinois  river  had  been  swept  away  like  chaff 
before  a  whirlwind,  and  not  a  solitary  representative  of  his  allies 
the  Illinois  remained  in  their  native  land,  and  his  work  was  to 
begin  anew.  His  resolution  was  taken  at  once.  A  strong  league 
of  all  the  western  tribes  nmst  be  formed,  for  defensive  purposes, 
against  the  Iroquois,  before  he  dared  to  push  his  explorations 
down  the  Mississippi ;  and,  indeed,  it  was  all-important  that  the 
French  should  show  themselves  able  to  defend  those  western 
tribes,  as  a  preliminary  step  toward  getting  possession  of  their 
country,  or,  rathei-,  gaining  a  foothold  in  it. 

The  late  Iroquois  invasion  of  the  Illinois  country,  of  which  La 
Salle  had  just  witnessed  the  ravages,  was  not  a  mere  ebullition  of 
savage  frenzy,  but  the  result  of  a  public  policy  quite  as  excusa- 


Meeting  of  La  iSalle  and  Tonty.  4!f 

ble  as  the  ordinary  wars  of  civilized  nations.  The  fur  trade  was 
the  largest  interet-t,  at  that  time,  throughout  the  entire  country, 
and  sharp  rivalry  in  this  branch  of  coniniorco  liad  always  exi;;ted 
between  the  Dutch  settlements  on  the  Hudson  river,  and  the 
Canadian  French.  Acting  in  harinonv  with  the  Dutch,  the  Iro- 
quois themselves  had  become  factors  of  this  branch  of  industry, 
and  reaped  quite  a  revenue  by  buying  furs  of  the  western  tribes, 
and  selling  them  to  the  Dutch.  It  was  therefore,  adverse  to  their 
interest  to  have  tlie  French  among  the  Illinois,  inasmuch  as  it  gave 
not  oidy  the  entire  Illinois'  trade  to  them,  but  threatened  to  turn 
the  trade  with  the  tribes  to  the  east  away  from  themselves  into 
French  hands.  A  similar  rivalry  exists  this  day  l)etween  Chica- 
go and  Canadian  cities  as  to  who  shall  command  the  nu>st  ti-ade. 
But  the  matter  is  settled  by  national  comity,  in  the  shape  of 
reciprocity  treaties,  instead  of  a  resort  to  the  sword. 

La  Salle  with  his  men  remained  at  Ft.  J\r:amis  till  JNIarch,  when 
the  severity  of  winter  had  abated,  and  he  could  again  venture 
into  the  forest  haunts  of  the  Indians  to  execute  iiis  plans.  The 
Illinois  trilies  had  returned  to  their  ancient  villages,  smarting 
under  their  late  humiliation,  and  the  occasion  was  favora!)le  for 
La  Salle's  plan,  to  unite  them  with  the  ]\Iiamis  and  other  wrsteru 
tribes,  for  the  purpose  of  repellinir  Iroquois  invasion.  He  there- 
fore convened  a  (oum-il  of  the  different  tribes,  and  soon  persuad- 
ed them  to  forget  tlieii-  former  causes  for  resentment,  and  unite 
under  his  standard  and  jiuike  common  cause  against  the  common 
enemy  of  both  the  French  and  rhe  western  tribes.  Wy  this  pol- 
itic tliplomacy,  La  Salle  had  turned  the  late  Iroquois  victory 
over  the  Illinois  to  his  own  account,  and  opened  the  way  for  re- 
suming his  grand  adventure;  but  before  anything  farther  could 
be  done,  it  was  necessary  to  return  to  Canada,  and  actjuaint  his 
friends  with  the  new  situaticui. 

The  genial  influences  of  May  had  made  the  canoe  navigation 
ot  the  lake  secun;,  and  he  started  at  once  along  the  east  shore  to 
reach  Canada  by  the  same  route  he  had  last  come.  Arriv- 
ing at  Michilimackinae.  his  cup  of  joy  was  brimming  over,  for 
Tonty  had  also  just  arrived  there  from  Green  Bay,  at  which  place 
he  had  been  ice-bound  f  >r  the  winter,  as  La  Salle  himself  had 
been  at  Ft.  Miamison  the  St.  .Joseph.  The  two  distinguished 
exj>lorers  were  necessary  toeachother,  and  their  joy  was  mutual. 

When  the  Iroquois  army  came  ujxm  the  Illinois  village,  Tonty 
was  auiong  them  with  Father  Membre  ;  and,  rightly  judging  that 
his  allies  would  be  defeated  by  their  haughty  invaders,  he  deter- 
mined to  try  the  arts  of  diplomacy  to  ward  off,  if  possible,  the 
inqtpnding  blow.  Both  armies  were  (h'awn  up  in  order  of  battle 
on  the  open  prairie  in  front  of  the  villa^'e.  and  the  usual  prelude 
to  an  Indian  light,  such  as  horrible  yellings  and  defiant  wur- 
who(.](.i.  were  in  full   tide,  when   Tonty,  with  a  heroism  seldom 


ii  Rendezvoris  at  Ft.  Miamis. 

witnessed,  .idvanced  from  the  ranks  of  his  IlHnois  friends  toward 
the  Iroquois,  bearing  a  flag  of  truce.  The  astonished  invaders 
received  iiini  into  their  councils,  and,  for  a  time,  their  skirmish- 
ing, which  had  already  begun,  ceased.  The  Iroquois  were  unde- 
cided in  opinion  whether  he  should  be  instantly  toiiiahuwked  or 
)et  go.  and  one  chief  thrust  his  spear  into  liis  side,  intiicting  *. 
painful  wound — perhaps  to  experiment  <»n  his  mettle.  Tonty 
bore  it  Avith  the  inimol)ility  of  a  subject  for  the  dissecting-room, 
which  liad  tiie  effect  to  elevate  him  vastly  in  the  estimation  or 
the  Ir  iquois,  and  they  let  liim  go,  but  were  not  to  be  turned 
from  tilt' ir  jiurpose;  and  they  attacked  the  Illinois  and  drove 
them  from  their  homes — seized  a  large  nundjer  of  their  squaws, 
whom  they  led  to  their  far-.>fi"  lodges  in  the  present  State  of 
New  York,  there  to  become  their  supernumerary  wives. 

After  Tontv's  efforts  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between 
the  two  contending  armies  had  failed,  he  withdrew,  and,  with 
Membre,  made  the  best  of  his  way  to  the  mission  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  at  Green  Bay. 

The  following  summer  was  employed  by  La  Salle  in  his  trip 
to  Canada  and  return  to  his  place  of  rendezvous  at  Ft.  Miamis. 
All  that  he  had  hojK'd  for  in  the  Avay  of  j)re])aration  for  his  third 
attempt  had  been  aec;;mpHshed  to  his  satisfaction,  and  notliing 
remained  but  to  start  on  the  enterprise.  Besides  the  twenty- 
three  Frenchmen  in  Ids  command,  eighteen  Indians  were  taken 
into  his  service,  ten  of  whom  chose  to  take  their  squaws  with 
them,  to  do  camp  duty."  Father  Membre  acconq>anied  the  ex- 
pedition, and  has  given  its  history,  which  begins  as  follows : 

"On  the  21st  of  December  I  embaiked,  with  the  Sieur  de 
Tonty  and  a  part  of  our  people,  on  Lake  Dauphin  (Michigan),  to 
go  toward  the  divine  river  called  by  the  Indians  Checaugou,  in 
order  to  make  necessary  arrangements  for  our  voyage.  The 
Sieur  de  La  Salle  joined  us  there  with  the  rest  of  his  troop,  on 
the  4th  of  January,  1082,  and  found  that  Tonty  had  had  slieghs 
made,  to  put  aU  on  and  carry  it,  when  the  Checaugou  was  fnjzen 
over." 

The  exact  words  of  Father  Membre  have  been  quoted  to  show 
the  antiquity  of  the  luime  Chicago,  which  the  father  spelled  Che- 
caugou. 

Tlie  whole  party  began  their  journey,  it  appears,  with  sleighs 
drawn  by  the  men,  on  tiie,  icy  faces  of  the  Chicago,  Desplaine!-, 
and  Illinois  rivers,  till  open  water  was  reached  at  Peoria  lake. 
Here  the  canoes  were  unloaded  from  the  sleighs  and  launched  in 
the  Illinois  river.     The  camping  utensils  were  stowed  away,  tlie 


•  These  Indians  were  fugitives  from  New  England,  who,  having  been  conquered 
i  t  king  {'hilip's  war,  had  found  an  asylum  in  the  far  West. 


La  Salle  at  the  2I"i!!i  <\f  the  Mis&hsipin.  51 

four  Indian  babies  who  accouij)aiii('(l  tliem  slung  away  in  some 
nook  where  they  would  be  least  in  the  way,  and  the  Hotilla  moved 
along  on  its  way,  pro])elled  by  strong  arms  assisted  by  tiie  cur- 
rent. 

Tlie  old  site  of  Ft.  Creve-Coeur  and  the  amateur  ship-yard 
near  by  it.  was  soon  passed,  as  they  skimmed  down  the  whirling 
current,  and  the  view  was  quickly  lost  to  sight,  it"  not  the  pain- 
ful remembrances  which  must  have  been  recalled  to  La  Salle  and 
Tonty.*  When  night  came,  the  whole  party  moored  their  boats 
on  the  bank  of  the  river,  pitched  their  tents,  slung  their  kettles 
on  tripods,  and  built  their  tires.  After  a  supi)er  of  boiled  hom- 
iny and  dried  beef,  they  ])rostrated  their  weary  forms  on  the 
grojind  for  the  night.  This  was  the  daily  routine  till  the  mouth 
of  the  JVlississijij)i  was  reached,  although  it  was  varied  with  in- 
tercourse with  dilferent  tribes  of  Indians  on  their  way,  among 
whom  such  improvements  as  adobe  houses,  earthen  plates,  and 
■domestic  fowls  were  found. f 

It  was  on  the  9th  of  April  that  they  arrived  at  the  low  and 
grassy  inargin  of  the  Gulf  of  JMexico,  upon  those  attenuated 
points  of  spongy  soil  scarcely  deserving  tiie  name  of  banks. 
Far  in  the  rear,  upon  the  treeless  banks  of  the  river,  the  dry 
grasses  of  April  rasped  their  dry  blades  together  with  a  din  of 
buz/.ing  before  the  wind.  The  gulf  rolled  in  her  heavy  swells 
against  the  unceasing  torrent  of  the  river,  which  met  like  two 
opposing  forces  of  nature;  and  liere,  amid  these  desolations,  the 
party  landed  and  erected  the  inevitable  cross.  Beside  it,  the 
arms  of  France,  engraved  on  a  leaden  plate,  was  buried.  A 
solemn  service  of  prayer  aT)d  singing  was  then  performed,  and, 
with  impressive  forms,  possession  was  taken  of  the  whole  valley 
of  the  Mississippi  and  named  Louisiana,  in  honor  of  Louis  XIV., 
kin*!;  of  France. 

Tlie  whole  party  now  started  on  the  return,  tugging  against 
the  scalloping  currents  of  the  river,  which  tossed  their  light  boats 
like  vessels  in  a  storm.  Far  away  to  the  right  and  left,  the  dis- 
tant forests  pushed  their  hoary  tops  into  the  horizon,  walling  in 
the  lonely  passage  to  tlie  sea  of  the  gathered  waters  of  lialf  a  couti 
nent.  This  immense  valley  was  now  a  French  province,  by  vir- 
tue of  the  wooden  cross  just  erected,  around  which  the  amphib- 
ious uu>nsters  of  the  gulf  were  to  gambol  in  security  as  soon  as 
the  adventurers  were  out  of  sight. 


•The  original   plan  of  building  a  vessel  to   navigate  the  Misiissippi    had  been 
abandoned  for  the  more  practical  canoe  ot  that  early  age, 

I  These  were  seen  below  the  Arkansas. 


CHAPTEE  III. 

La  Salle  Returns  to  the  Illinois  Coimtry — Ft.  St.  Louis  £vilt 
— La  Salle  leaves  Tonty  in  Command  of  Ft.  St.  Louis-,  and 
Starts  for  France — Tonty  Unjustly  Superseded  in  Command 
hy  La  Barre,  the  A'ew  Govcr}ior  of  Canada — La  Salle  at 
the  Court  of  Louis  XIV. — La  Bar  re  Recalled — Tonty  Re- 
stored to  Command — La  Salle  furnished  with  a  Fleet  to  Sail 
for  the  Mouth  of  the  Mississij^pi  and  Fstahlish  a  Colony ~ 
The  Fleet  Passes  its  Destination.,  and  Lands  on  the  Coast  <f 
Texas — Treachery  <f  Beavjeu — La  Salle  Builds  a  Fort — ///v 
Vessels  Lost — Desperate  Condition  of  the  Colony — La  Salic 
sta7'ts  Across  the  Wilds  for  the  Illinois  Country — He  is  As- 
sassinated on  the  ^yay — The  Murdittrs  fall  uj)on  each  other 
— Return  of  Cavelier  and  I  J  is  Tarty — T(mty\s  Fort  on  1  he- 
Arkansas —  Mendacious  Concealment  of  La  Salle'' s  Death — 
Iberville  and  Bienville  make  a  Settlement  at  the  Mouth  of 
Missis>^ippi — A?ialysis  of  the  Fnylish  Colonies. 

La  i?alle's  explonition  of  the  Misf;issippi  was  the  work  of  a 
master  mind  ;  hut,  tVir  the  present,  it  was  an  nnwiehly  acquisi- 
tion to  t!io  coutphcated  as  well  as  overhurdened  executive  capa- 
bilities of  the  Canadian  government. 

Had  La  tSalle's  means  been  sutHcient,  he  would  have  immcill- 
ately  establislied  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  as  a  depot  ior 
reoeivini;:  and  shi})i>ing  bulfalo  hides  and  furs,  from  the  inex- 
haustible sources  of  sup})ly  for  these  vahiable  goods,  in  the  lini 
itless  wilds  drained  by  the  JNIississippi  ajid  its  tril)utaries.  But 
his  labors  thus  far  luul  not  only  cxhaustiMl  his  own  means  in  ex- 
ploration, buthad  drawn  largely  upon  tlie  res(nirces  of  his  friends, 
as  well  as  leaving  him  in  debt  even  to  the  men  who  had  perforui- 
ed  the  drudgery  of  the  camp. 

On  his  ])assage  up  the  Mississippi,  he  had  been  seized  with  a 
violent  attack  of  fever,  and  Mas  unable  to  pursue  his  journc y, 
with  the  comfortless  accommodations  afforded  by  their  canoes; 
but,  fortunately  for  him,  a  fort  had  been  built  at  the  Chickasaw 
bluffs,  on  their  passage  down,*  and  his  strength  barely  lield  out 

*  Fort  rrudhomnie.  On  their  jjassnge  clown  the  river,  a  landing  was  made  here 
for  the  purpose  of  hunting.  While  thus  engaged,  Father  rrudhomme  was  lost  i\\ 
the  woods,  and,  while  searching  for  him,  a  fort  was  built  and  named  lor  him.  ilc 
was  found  after  two  days'  search,  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion. 


Ft.  St.  Louis  Built  in  the  Illinois  Country.  53 

till  tlieir  arrival  at  this  place.  Here  he  reinained  till  he  was 
able  to  resume  his  journey,  attended  by  Father  Meinbre.  Mean- 
time, Touty  hastened  forward  to  the  Illinois  country  with  the 
men,  for  it  was  all-important  that  a  nucleus  of  French  power 
should  be  established  here,  in  order  to  utilize  the  late  discove- 
ries. 

This  was  no  easy  task  to  accomplish,  especially  from  the  nn- 
tenipered  materials  out  of  which  it  was  to  be  improvised  ;  but 
Lti  Salle,  who  ni'ver  looked  upon  any  obstacle  in  his  way  as  in- 
surmountable, went  to  work  with  his  accustomed  resolution,  as 
soon  as  he  was  able  again  to  take  the  field.  The  yellow  tints  ol 
autumn  had  begun  to  imprint  their  stam}>upon  the  forests  wIkmi 
he  and  Tonty  had  commenced  building  Ft.  St.  Louis  at  Starvetl 
Jiockj  where  the  western  tribes  miglit  gather  around  the  lilies  of 
France,  with  an  assurance  of  protection.* 

This  work  com)>leted.  La  Salle  intended  to  sail  for  France,  as 
soon  as  he  could  arrive  at  Quebec,  the  starting  point. 

At  this  juncture,  rumors  of  an  Iroquois  .  invasion  of  the  Illi- 
nois country  came  to  hand,  and  postponed  his  anticipated  visit 
to  the  French  court;  for  to  desert  his  Illinois  allies  in  this  hour 
■of  danger,  would  be  a  forfeiture  of  French  interests  on  the  prai- 
ries, as  well  as  a  relinquishment  of  his  plans  for  a  French  colony 
.ar  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi, 

A  large  number  of  Indians,  composed  of  several  western 
tribes  besides  the  Illinois,  were  now  tenanted  along  the  Illinois 
river  adjacent  to  the  fort,  who,  with  the  aid  of  a  small  number 
of  Frenchmen,  would  be  able  to  repel  any  Iroquois  invasion 
likely  to  be  sent  against  them.  But  to  hold  these  capricious 
wanderers  to  the  French  interest,  a  stock  of  goods  for  barter 
with  them,  and  a  few  Frenchmen  to  do  military  dut}-,  were  ne- 
cessarv.  These  must  c<nne  from  Canada.  Had  Frontenac  still 
been  Governor,  all  would  hav-e  been  well;  but  this  able  man 
had  been  removed  through  the  machinations  of  some  of  the  jar- 
ring interests  of  the  province,  and  La  Barre  put  in  his  place. 
He  was  no  friend  to  La  Salle,  and  instead  of  reinforcing  him 
with  the  necessary  men  for  service  in  the  Illinois  country,  he 
detained  those  in  Canada  designed  for  that  ]>ost.  and  withheld 
all  supplies  from  him.  La  Salle  had  now  no  other  recourse  left, 
but  to  remain  at  his  post  in  the  Illinois  country  during  the  win- 
ter, rumijuiting  in  his  feilile  brain  ((U  future  plans,  whereby  he 
c(»uld  bring  to  the  knowledge  of  the  French  king  an  appreciative 
sense  of  the  magnitude  of  his  discoveries.  The  next  summer 
was  nearly  spent  in  the  same  painful  uncertainty  amidst  the  ser- 
vile tribes  of  the  prairies,  whose  lack  of  courage  to  protect  them- 

•  This  spot  was  chosen  as  a  place  of  great  natural  strength,  where  a  few  Freach- 
kHien  could  liold  a  nation  of  savaj^es  at  t.ay. 


54  La  Salle  Arrives  in  Paris. 

selves  contrasted  unfavorably  with  the  prowess  of  the  conquer- 
ing Iroquois. 

Autumn  was  approaching — the  expected  invasion  of  these 
champions  t)f  the  forest  had  not  come — and  La  Salle  determined 
to  start  for  France.  On  his  way  to  Quebec,  he  met  an  otRcer 
going  to  the  Illinois  country,  with  a  commission  from  La  Barre, 
the  governor  of  Canada,  to  take  possession  of  Ft.  St.  Louis,  tlm 
citadel  of  the  rock  tower,  which  was  then  the  key  to  the  inte- 
rior. Tonty  had  first  built  this  f  .it,  and,  by  virtue  of  La  Salle's 
authority,  now  held  comnumd  of  it;  and  though  he  alone  was 
better  qualified  to  command  it  than  any  other  one  except, 
La  Sail;;,  yet  he  peaceably  conformed  to  the  authority  of  La 
Barre,  and  took  a  subordinate  position  under  Baugis,  the  late 
appointee  of  La  Barre. 

The  following  March,  the  expected  Iroquois  came  and  besiei^- 
ed  the  place  for  six  days.  The  fort  held  out,  and  the  discomlit- 
ted  invaders,  for  once  balked  of  their  expected  victory,  retreated. 

La  Salle  was  now  in  Paris.  La  Barre' s  villainous  aspersions 
had  preceded  him,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  undervalue  his  discov- 
eries and  wrest  from  him  what  little  authority  yet  remained  in 
his  hands  as  commander  of  Ft.  Frontenac  and  almoner  of  seign- 
iorial rights  of  the  lands  of  the  Illinois  country.*  This  was 
more  than  calumny  could  accomplish.  Sixteen  years  of  toil  and 
disappointment,  of  hope  deferred,  crowned  at  last  with  a  success 
only  waiting  recognition,  had  moulded  lines  of  irresistible  advo- 
cacy into  the  weather-beaten  face  of  La  Salle.  He  no  sooner 
gained  a  hearing  at  the  court  of  Versailles  than  the  reports  of 
his  enemies  recoiled  upon  themselves.  La  Barre  was  recalled^ 
Denonville  was  made  governor  of  Canada,  and  the  command 
of  Ft.  St.  Louis  restored  to  Tonty,  the  incarnation  of  courage 
and  fidelity,  and  the  only  one  now  worthy  of  holding  it. 

La  Salle,  now  fullv  restored  to  the  confidence  of  the  French 
court,  was  furnished  with  a  fleet  of  four  vessels  to  fulfill  the  cher-^ 
ished  project  of  his  ambition — the  establishment  of  a  French  col- 
ony at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  fleet  sailed  from  Ro- 
chelle  on  the  24th  of  July,  1684,  with  280  adventurers  who  en- 
listed in  the  service  as  emigrants,  to  form  a  colony  in  the  wilds 
of  America.  Among  them  were  artisans  of  various  trades  and 
a  few  young  women.  Several  priests  also  accompanied  the  ex- 
pedition, among  whom  was   Cavelier,  the  brother  of  La  Salle, 

♦  La  Salle's  patent  of  nobility  had  invested  him  with  anthority  to  parcel  out  iha 
lands  around  Ft.  St.  Louis  to  French  settlers,  who  would  ni;irry  natives  and  settle 
on  the  land.  This  was  done  to  encourage  permanent  colonization,  hut  the  recipi- 
ents of  these  emoluments  abused  their  privileges  by  marrying  new  wives  as  ofter 
as  their  whimsical  propensities  or  their  interests  demanded,  greatly  to  the  disjjusi 
of  La  Salle. 


His  Fleet  Sails  for  ike  Mouth  of  the  Mississippi.         55 

and  Joutel,  whose  history  of  the  progress  and  traiijical  termina 
tion  of  the  scheme  is  now  esteemed  as  tlie  host  autlioi-ity. 

The  general  command  was  given  to  La  Salle,  hut  urifoitunatcly 
another  person,  by  the  name  of  Beaiijeu,  had  cliarge  of  thelieet, 
whose  authority  did  not  go  beyond  the  manageinent  of  the  ves- 
sels. He  was  by  birth  from  a  family  of  note,  and  had  been  for 
many  years  in  the  king's  service — at  least  long  enough  to  spoil 
liim  for  the  position  he  was  now  to  occupy  as  a  subordinate  to 
La  Salle,  whose  experience  in  the  wilds  of  America  was  sneered 
at  by  the  officious  captain. 

On  their  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  much  dissension 
arose  between  Beaujeu  and  La  Salle.  Tlie  former  was  envi- 
ous and  the  latter  tenacious.  One  vessel,  containing  valuable 
stores,  was  captured  by  Spanish  cruisers  in  consequence  of  Beau- 
jeu's  disobedience  of  La  Salle's  orders  to  land  at  Port  de  Paix, 
a  harbor  of  La  Tortue. 

After  much  detention  at  the  West  India  Islands,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  sickness  of  La  Salle,  the  fleet  Anally  entered  the 
(julf  of  Mexico,  and  made  sail  for  their  destination,  as  near  as 
they  could  calculate  their  course  from  the  latitude  and  longitude 
taken  by  La  Salle  when  he  with  his  canoe  fleet,  two  years  be- 
fore, had  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  which  the}^  were 
now  tending. 

Coasting  along  the  northern  shore  of  the  gulf,  they  made  sev- 
eral landings,  but  finally  passed  by  the  place,  either  through 
ignorance  or  design  of  the  faithless  Beaujeu.  Continuing  along 
the  shore,  which  trended  southwardly,  La  Salle  soon  became 
convinced  that  they  had  missed  their  destination,  and  urged  up- 
on Beaujeu  to  retrace  the  mysterious  path  which  iiud  now  brought 
them  to  the  treeless  and  sandy  shores  of  Texas.  This  he  refus- 
ed to  do,  on  the  ground  that  his  provisions  were  getting  short, 
and  he  must  return  immediately  to  France.  La  Salle,  convinced 
of  the  mistake  they  had  made,  oflered  him  fifteen  days'  extra 
provisions,  which  wotdd  have  been  more  than  suflicient  to  feed 
the  crew  while  engaged  in  continuing  the  search.  Even  this 
proposition  Beaujeu  had  the  efl'rontery  to  discard. 

In  attempting  to  land,  one  of  the  three  remaining  vessels  was 
stranued,  and  became  a. total  wreck ;  but,  notwithstanding  this 
calamity,  Beaujeu  set  sail  for  France,  leaving  La  Salh;  and  his 
men  to  their  fate  on  the  savage  and  unknown  shore  whither  they 
had  been  drilted  like  lost  travelers. 

In  this  extremity  La  Salle  landed  his  men  and  built  a  fort  on 
the  shores  of  Matagorda  Bay,  for  this  was  the  spot  where  the 
winds  and  waves  had  cast  them.  He  was  not  without  hopes 
that  t)ne  of  the  rivers  which  emptied  into  it  was  one  of  the  devi- 
ous mouths  of  the  Mississipj)i ;  which,  perhaps,  may  account  for 


50  French  Colony  in  Texas. 

his  not  continuing  his  search  for  this  illusive  object  with  the  re- 
maining vessel.* 

The  note  in  the  margin  is  Joutal's  account  of  the  build- 
ing of  the  fort.  The  same  faithful  historian  has  recorded 
in  his  journal  the  wanderings  of  La  Salle  in  his  search  for  the 
fatal  river,  as  he  (Joutal)  always  called  it.  This  search  was  per- 
sisted in  for  two  years,  during  which  time  disease  and  death 
were  wasting  away  the  unhappy  colony,  till  but  a  feeble  remnant 
was  left,  while,  to  make  their  situation  still  more  desperate,  their 
last  remaining  vessel  was  wrecked  in  crossing  the  bay  on  some 
local  service.  To  save  them,  La  Salle  formed  the  desperate  res- 
olution to  make  his  way  on  foot  across  the  country  to  Canada, 
and  obtain  relief  for  these  victims  of  his  iinlucky  enterprise. 

Joutel,  in  giving  an  account  of  his  starting,  says : 

"  We  set  out  on  the  12th  of  January,  in  the  year  1687,  being 
seventeen  in  number,  viz :  Monsieur  de  La  Salle,  Monsieur  Cav- 
elier  the  priest,  his  brother,  Father  Anastasius  the  recollet,  Mes- 
sieurs Moranget  and  Cavelier,  nephews  to  Monsieur  de  La  Salle, 

•  "  When  Mons.  de  Beaujeu  was  gone,  we  fell  to  work  to  make  a  fort,  of  the 
wreck  of  the  ship  that  had  been  cast  away  and  many  pieces  of  timber  the  sea 
threw  up  ;  and  during  that  time  several  men  deserted,  which  added  to  Monsieur 
de  La  Salle's  affliction.  A  Spaniard  and  a  Frenchman  stole  away  and  fled,  and 
were  never  more  heard  of.  Four  or  five  others  followed  their  example,  but  Mon- 
sieur de  La  Salle,  having  timely  notice,  sent  after  them,  and  they  were  brought 
back.  One  of  them  was  condemned  to  death,  and  the  others  to  serve  the  king 
ten  years  in  that  country, 

"  When  our  fort  was  well  advanced,  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  resolved  to  clear  his 
doubts,  and  to  go  up  the  river  where  we  were,  to  know  whether  it  was  not  an  arm 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  accordingly  ordered  fifty  men  to  attend  him,  of  which 
number  were  Monsieur  Cavelier,  his  brother,  and  Monsieur  Chedeville,  both 
priests,  two  recollet  friars,  and  several  volunteers,  who  set  out  in  five  canoes  we 
had,  with  the  necessary  provisions.  There  remained  in  the  fort  about  an  hundred 
and  thirty  persons,  and  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  gave  me  the  command  of  it,  with 
orders  not  to  have  any  commerce  with  the  natives,  but  to  fire  at  them  if  they  ap- 
peared. 

"■  Whilst  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  was  absent,  I  caused  an  oven  to  be  built,  which 
was  a  great  help  to  us,  and  employed  myself  in  finishing  the  fort  and  ])Utting  it  in 
a  posture  to  withstand  the  Indians,  who  came  frequ-^ntly  in  the  night  to  range 
about  us,  hcwling  like  wolves  and  dogs  ;  but  two  cr  three  musket  shots  put  them 
to  flight.  It  happened  one  niglit  that,  having  fired  six  or  seven  shots.  Monsieur 
de  La  Salle,  who  was  not  far  from  us,  heard  them,  and  being  in  pain  about  it,  he 
returned  with  six  or  seven  men,  and  found  all  things  in  a  good  posture. 

"  He  told  us  he  had  found  a  good  country,  fit  to  sow  and  plant  all  sorts  of 
grain,  abounding  in  beeves  and  wildfowl ;  that  he  designed  to  erect  a  fort  farther 
up  the  river,  and  accordingly  he  left  me  orders  to  square  out  as  much  timber  as  I 
could  get,  the  sea  castini;  up  much  upon  the  shore.  He  had  given  the  same  or- 
ders to  the  men  he  had  left  on  the  spot,  seven  or  eight  of  whom,  detached  from 
the  rest,  being  busy  at  that  work,  and  seeing  a  number  of  the  natives,  fled,  and 
unadvisably  left  their  tools  behind  them.  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  returning  thither, 
found  a  paper  made  fast  to  a  reed,  which  gave'him  notice  of  that  accident,  which 
he  was  concerned  at,  because  of  the  tools,  not  so  much  for  the  value  of  the  loss, 
as  because  it  was  furnishing  the  natives  with  such  things  as  they  might  afterward 
make  use  oi  against  us." 


La  ISalU  Starts  for  the  lUlnols  Country.  57 

the  Sieurs  Duliant  the  elder,  I'Arclieveque,  Hiens,  Liotot,  sur- 
geon, youiijo-  Talon,  an  Indian,*  and  a  footman  belonging  to 
Monsieur  de  La  Salle,  &c.  We  carried  along  with  us  part  of 
the  best  things  every  man  had,  and  what  was  thought  would  be 
of  use.  wherewith  the  live  horses  were  loaded,  and  we  took  our 
leaves  with  as  much  tenderness  and  sorrow,  as  if  we  had  all  pre- 
saged that  we  should  never  see  each  other  more.  Father  Zeno- 
bius  was  the  person  who  expressed  it  to  me  most  significantly, 
saying  he  had  never  been  so  sensibly  touched  at  i)arting  with 
anybody." 

Many  a  parting  adieu  was  waved  to  the  travelers  as  they  slowly 
made  their  way  across  the  extended  plain  in  front  of  the  fort,  till 
the  last  gHmj)se  of  their  receding  forms  was  lost  in  the  ex|)anse 
•of  wilderness  which  intervened  between  them  and  New  France. 

La  Salle  with  his  men  urged  their  way  over  the  vast  plains  of 
Texas,  swimming  the  rivers  that  crossed  their  jiath,  subsisting 
on  buffalo  meat,  and  camping  niglitly  on  the  gnjund,  till  they 
reached  the  Trinity  river.  The  route  thus  far  had  been  traveled 
a  few  months  before  by  La  Salle,  in  his  erratic  wanderings  in 
•quest  of  the  "fatal  river,"  and  having  an  overstock  of  provisions 
at  that  time,  he  concealed  some  beans  in  a  hollow  tree  for  possi- 
ble future  use.  Being  now  encamped  hard  by,  he  despatched 
Liotot,  Hiens,  Teissier.  L'Archeveque,  Nika,  and  Saget,  to  se- 
cure them.  To  their  disappointment,  they  found  them  spoiled ; 
but,  on  their  return,  Nika  shot  two  buffalo.  Saget  was  now  des- 
patched to  the  camp  of  La  Salle  for  horses  to  bring  in  the  meat, 
to  be  cured  for  use  on  the  way. 

The  request  was  gladly  complied  with  by  sending  two  messen- 
gers, Moranget  and  De  Marie,  to  return  with  Saget  with  the 
necessary  horses.  The  meat  had  already  been  cut  into  thin  sli- 
ces and  hung  out  to  dry  by  the  usual  process ;  all  except  some 
choice  bits  which  Duhaut  and  his  pals  had  reserved  for  them- 
selves. This  was  an  acknowledged  prerogative  of  the  hunter 
who  killed  game,  and  to  Nika  only  belonged  this  right ;  but 
Moranget,  in  no  mood  to  respect  these  distinctions,  abusing  the 
whole  party  in  a  storm  of  indignation,  seized  all  the  meat  by 
force. 

The  tragedy  that  followed  is  related  by  Joutel  as  follows : 

"The  16th.  in  their  return,  they  met  with  two  bullocks,  which 
Monsieur  de  La  Salle's  Indian  killed,  whereupon  they  sent  back 
his  footman,  to  give  him  notice  of  what  they  had  killed,  that  it 
he  would  have  the  flesh  dried,  he  might  send  horses  for  it.     The 

*  The  Indian  mentioned  by  Joutel  was  Nika.  This  faithful  servant  had  accom- 
panied La  Salle  in  all  his  forest  marches  ever  since  he  first  pushed  his  way  into 
the  lake  country,  and  had  mere  than  once  furnished  subsistence  to  his  famishing 
tnen  by  his  superior  skill  in  hunting,  and  had  piloted  Ihem  safely  through  myste- 
rious portages  known  only  to  Indians. 


58  Revolt  and  Murder  Begin. 

17th,  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  had  the  horses  taken  up,  and  ordered 
the  Sieurs  Aloranget  and  de  Marle^  his  footman,  to  go  for  that 
meat,  and  send  back  a  horse  load  immediately,  till  the  rest  was 
dried. 

"  Monsieur  Moranget,  when  he  came  thither,  found  they  had 
smoked  both  the  beeves,  though  they  were  not  dry  enough ;  and 
tha  said  Sieurs  Liotot,  Hiens,  Duhaut,  and  the  rest,  had  hiid 
aside  the  niarn)\v-b(mes  and  others  to  roast  them,  as  was  usual 
to  do.  The  Sieur  Moranget  found  fault  with  it ;  he  in  a  passion 
seized  not  only  the  flesh  that  was  smoketl  and  dried,  but  also  the 
bones,  without  giving  them  anything ;  but  on  the  contrarj', 
threatening  they  should  not  eat  so  much  of  it  as  they  had  imag- 
ined, and  that  he  would  manage  that  flesh  after  another  matiner. 

"This  passionate  behavior,  so  nmch  out  of  season,  and  con- 
trary to  reason  and  custom,  touched  the  surgeon  Liotot,  Hiens, 
and  Duhaut  to  the  quick,  they  having  other  causes  of  complaint 
against  Moranget.  They  withdrew,  and  resolved  together  upon 
a  bloody  revenge ;  they  agreed  upon  the  manner  of  it,  and  con- 
cluded they  would  murder  the  8ieur  Moranget,  Monsieur  de  La 
Salle's  footman,  and  liis  Indian,  because  he  was  very  faithful  to 
him. 

"They  waited  till  night,  when  those  unfortunate  creatures liad 
supped  and  were  asleep.  Liotot  the  surgeon  was  the  inhuman 
executioner.  He  took  an  axe,  began  by  the  Sieur  Moranget, 
giving  him  many  strokes  on  the  head;  the  same  he  did  by  the 
footman  and  the  Indian,  killing  them  on  the  spot,  whilst  his  fel- 
low-villains, viz.:  Duhaut,  Hiens,  Teissier,  and  L'Archeveque, 
stood  upon  their  guard,  with  their  arras,  to  lire  upon  such  as 
should  make  any  resistance.  The  Indian  and  the  footman  never 
stirred,  but  the  Sieur  Moranget  had  so  much  vigor  as  to  sit  up, 
but  without  being  able  to  speak  one  word,  and  the  assassins 
obliged  the  Sieur  de  Marie  to  make  an  end  of  him,  though  he 
was  not  in  the  conspiracy. 

"Tills  slaugliter  had  yet  satisfied  but  oiie  part  of  the  revenge 
of  those  murderers.  To  flnish  it  and  secure  themselves  it  was 
requisite  to  destroy  the  couim;imier-in-chief.  They  cousulted 
about  the  safest  method  to  ettect  it,  and  resolved  to  go  together 
to  Monsieur  de  La  Salle,  to  knock  out  the  brains  of  the  most 
resolute  immediately,  and  then  it  would  be  easier  to  overcome 
the  rest.  But  the  river,  which  was  between  them  and  us,  being 
much  swollen,  the  difficulty  of  passing  it  made  them  put  it  oif 
the  18th  and  19th.  On  the  other  hand,  LVlonsieur  de  La  Salle 
was  very  uneasy  on  account  of  their  long  stay.  His  impatience 
made  him  rescjlve  to  go  himself  to  And  out  his  people,  and  to- 
know  the  cause  of  it. 

"This  was  not  done  without  many  previous  tokens  of  concern 
and  apprehension.     He  seemed  to  have  some  presage  ot  his  mis- 


La  Salle  Falls  a  Victim.  5^ 

fortune,  inquiring  of  some  whether  the  Sier.r  Liotot,  llions,  and 
Dnhaut  liad  not  expressed  some  discontent;  and  not  hearino; 
anvthini?  of  it,  lie  could  not  forltear  setting  out  the  I'Orli.  with 
Father  Anastasius  and  an  ^iidian,  leaving  me  the  coimnand  in 
his  absence,  and  charging  me  from  time  to  time  to  g«>  the  rounds 
about  our  camp,  to  prevent  being  surprised,  and  to  make  a  smoke- 
for  him  to  direct  his  way  in  case  of  need.  When  he  came  near 
the  dwelling  of  the  murderers,  looking  out  sharp  to  discover 
something,  he  observed  eagles  fluttering  about  a  spot  not  far 
from  them,  which  made  him  believe  they  had  found  some  carri- 
on about  the  mansion,  and  he  tired  a  shot,  which  was  the  signal' 
of  his  death  and  forwarded  it. 

*'The  conspirators  hearing  the  shot,  concluded  it  was  Mon- 
sieur de  La  Salle,  who  was  come  to  seek  them.  They  made- 
ready  their  arms  and  provided  to  surprise  him.  Duhaut  passed 
the  river.  L'Archeveque,  the  tirst  of  them,  spying  Monsieur  de 
La  Salle  at  a  distance,  as  he  was  coming  toward  them,  advanced 
and  hid  himself  among  the  high  weeds,  to  wait  his  passing  by, 
so  that  Monsieur  de  La  Salle,  suspecting  nothing,  and  having 
not  so  much  as  charged  his  piece  again,  saw  the  aforesaid  L'Ar- 
cheveque at  a  good  distance  from  him,  and  immediately  asked 
for  his  nephew  Moranget,  to  which  L'Archeveque  answered  that 
he  was  along  the  river.  At  the  same  time  the  traitor  Duhaut 
tired  his  piece  and  shot  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  through  the  head, 
so  that  he  dropped  down  dead  on  the  spot,  without  speaking  one- 
word. 

"  Father  Anastasius,  who  was  then  by  his  side,  stood  stock, 
still  in  a  fright,  expecting  the  same  fate,  and  not  knowing  wheth- 
er he  should  go  forward  or  backward  ;  but  the  murderer  Duhaut 
put  him  out  of  that  dread,  bidding  him  not  to  fear,  for  no  hu»-t 
was  intended  him  ;  that  it  was  despair  that  had  prevailed  with 
him  to  do  what  he  saw ;  that  he  had  long  desired  to  be  revenged 
on  Moranget,  because  he  had  designed  to  ruin  him,  and  that  he 
was  partly  the  occasion  of  his  uncle's  death.  This  is  the  exact 
relation  of  that  murder,  as  it  was  presently  after  told  me  by  F. 
Anastasius. 

"  Such  was  the  unfortunate  end  of  Monsieur  de  La  Salle's  life, 
at  a  time  when  he  might  entertain  the  greatest  hopes  as  the  re- 
ward of  his  labors.  He  had  a  capacity  and  talent  to  make  his 
enterprise  successful ;  his  constancy  and  courage  and  his  extraor- 
dinary knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  which  rendered  huii 
lit  for  anything,  together  with  an  indefatigable  body,  which  made 
him  surmount  all  difiiculties,  would  have  procured  a  glorious 
issue  to  his  undertaking,  had  not  all  those  excellent  qualities  been 
counterbalanced  by  too  haughty  a  behavior,  which  sometimes- 
made  him  insupportable,  and  by  a  rigid ness  toward  those  tha 


^  The  Guilty  and  Innocent  in  Council. 

were  under  his  command,  which  at  last  drew  on  hhn  an  irapla- 
<;able  hatred,  and  was  the  occasion  oi  his  deatli. 

''The  shot  which  had  killed  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  was  also  a 
signal  of  the  murder  to  the  assassins  for  them  to  draw  near. 
They  all  repaired  to  the  place  where  the  wretched  dead  corpse 
lay,  which  they  barbarously  strip])ed  to  the  shirt,  and  vented 
their  malice  in  vile  and  ojjprobrious  language.  The  surgeoa  Lio- 
tot  said  several  times,  in  scorn  and  derision,  There  thou  liest, 
great  Basha  j  there  thou  liest.  In  conclusion,  they  dragged  it 
naked  among  the  bushes,  and  left  it  exposed  to  the  ravenous 
wild  beasts.  So  far  was  it  from  what  a  certain  author  writes,  of 
their  having  buried  him  and  set  up  a  cross  on  his  grave. 

"When  those  murderers  had  satiated  their  rage,  they  set  out 
to  come  to  us  at  our  camp  with  the  dried  flesh,  whicii  they  had 
caused  to  be  brought  over  the  river  by  the  Indians,  who  had 
been  spectators  of  the  murder  and  of  all  the  inhuman  acts  that 
had  been  committed,  with  amazement  and  contempt  of  us. 
When  the}'  were  come  U)  the  camp,  they  found  Messieurs  Cave- 
lier  the  one  brother,  the  other  nephew  to  the  murdered  com- 
mander, whom  Father  Anastasius  acquainted  with  the  dismal 
■end  of  our  chief,  and  enjoined  them  silence,  which  it  is  easy  to 
imagine  was  very  hard  upon  them  ;    but  it  was  absolutely  neces- 

"However,  Monsieur  Cavelier  the  priest  could  not  forbear 
telling  them  that  if  they  would  do  the  same  by  liim,  he  woulu 
forgive  them  his  murder,  and  only  desired  of  them  to  give  hirn 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  to  prepare  himself.  They  answered,  they 
Jiad  notliing  to  say  to  him ;  that  what  they  had  done  was  the 
■effect  of  despair,  to  be  reveuged  for  the  ili-usage  they  had  re- 
ceived. 

"I  was  absent  at  that  time;  they  called  L'Archeveque,  %vho, 
as  I  have  said,  was  one  of  tlie  conspirators,  had  some  kindness 
for  me,  and  knowing  they  designed  to  make  me  away  too,  if  I 
stood  upon  my  defence,  he  parted  from  them,  to  give  mo  notice 
of  their  mischievous  rosolutioii.  He  found  me  on  a  little  rising 
ground,  where  I  was  l(»okini;  upon  our  horses  as  they  grazed  in 
a  little  adjacent  bottom.  His  intelligence  struck  me  to  the  heart, 
not  kiK)wing  whether  I  should  fly  or  stay ;  but  at  length,  having 
jKMther  ])owder  wov  shot  nor  arms,  and  the  said  L'Archeveqiie 
giving  me  assurances  of  my  life,  provided  I  was  quiet  and  .said 
nothing,  I  committed  myself  to  God's  protection,  and  went  to 
tlieni.  without  tiiking  any  notice  of  what  had  been  done. 

"Duhaut,  ])uffed  up  with  his  new-gotten  authority,  i)rocured 
iiim  by  his  villainy,  as  soon  as  he  saw  me,  cried  out,  Every  num 
ought  to  command  in  his  turn  ;  to  which  I  nuvde  no  answer ;  and 
we  were  all  of  us  obliged  to  stifle  our  resentment,  that  it  might 
tiot  appear,  for  our  lives  depen  ied  on  it.     Jlow*»^'^r,  it  was  easy 


Eulogy  of  La  >Salle.  61 

to  jiulire  with  what  eyes  Fatlier  Anastasiiis,  Messieurs  Cavelier, 
and  I  beheld  these  iniirdorers,  to  whom  we  expected  evei-y  mo- 
uient  to  fall  sacrifices.  It  is  true,  we  dissembled  so  well  that 
they  were  not  very  siisj)icious  of  us,  and  tliat  the  temptation  we 
were  under  of  makini:^  them  away  in  revenge  for  those  tliey  had 
murdered,  would  have  easily  prevailed  and  been  put  in  execu- 
tion, had  not  j\[onsieur  Oavelier  the  priest  always  positively  op- 
posed it,  alleainir  that  we  ouiilit  to  leave  veng'eance  to  God. 

"  However,  tlie  murderers  seized  upon  all  the  effects,  without 
any  opposition,  and  then  we  began  to  talk  of  ])roceeding  on  our 
journey." 

Thus,  at  the  age  of  only  forty-three  years,  fell  the  hero  of  a 
thousatid  conflicts  against  the  cahnnnies  of  Jesuits."  the  envy 
of  rivals,  and  tlie  untamed  forces  of  Nature  herself,  against 
which  he  had  contended  for  twenty  years,  in  the  heart  of  a  sav- 
age wilderness.  Much  of  this  time  the  earth  had  been  his  eoucli 
at  night,  and  his  companions  the  savages  whose  realms  he  had 
entered. 

With  these  he  was  an  unusual  favorite,  not  because  he  took 
the  least  interest  in  their  every-day  routine  or  catered  to  the  luir- 
row-gauge  ideas  with  which  the  average  mind  in  a  state  of  na- 
ture was  occupied,  but  because  in  him  was  perst)nitied  a  true 
nobility  of  character  which  perforce  subordinates  common  grades 
of  intellect,  whether  savages  or  civilians,  to  its  will. 

He  was  one  of  those  men  whose  stamp  of  genius,  in  his  pecu- 
liar sphere,  has  been  left  upon  his  age,  where  it  w-ill  remain  an 
indelible  record,  not  only  among  the  forests  nf  America,  but 
among  the  splendors  of  \'^ersailles,  where  his  sunliurnt  face  once 
stood  among  the  effeminate  graces  of  the  Fi'ench  court  like  a. 
giant  among  pigmies. 

!Strange  that  one  so  gifted  should  have  had  his  Weak  points; 
but  this  was  the  case,  and  many  of  his  niisfortinies  and  his  death 
were  traceable  to  them.  His  weakness  was  found  in  his  haufjhtv, 
cold  inmtobility,  which  ie]telle(l  c<>nsiilerate  counsels  and  left 
liim  alone  in  the  hcrmitaireof  his  thoughts  when  ho  needed  advice. 

Berett  of  their  champion,  the  situatiDU  of  the  party  not  in  the 
conspiracy  was  ])erilous  in  the  extreme.  The  least  irritating 
worcl  from  them  Avould  have  l)een  tlie  signal  of  death. 

Duhaut  and  Liotot  seized  upon  all  the  etlects  of  J^a  Salle,  even 
the  clothing  on  his  person.  leaving  his  naked  body  on  the  spot 
where  he  was  killed,  the  flesh  to  be  eaten  and  the  bones  tossed 
about  by  the  wolves,  and  finally  to  moulder  beneath  the  grasses 
of  the  ]irairie. 


*  La  Salle  never  felt  friendly  to  the  Jesuits,  and  always  chose  priests  not  belong- 
ing  to  that  order  to  accompany  him.  The  Jesuits  in  turn  opposed  hira.  Hence 
1^,,,  ir-fp  1-mMv  imnn'T  in  v'Mch  Charlevnix  «.r>eaks  of  him. 


■^  Death  of  the  Assassins. 

The  excuse  for  this  was,  that  it  was  but  a  just  remuneration 
for  the  losses  thev  had  sustained  in  followini?  his  fortunes  to  the 
desperate  pass  to  which  they  were  now  brought.  The  appropri- 
ation of  La  Salle's  effects  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  other 
conspirators,  but  the  outbreak  destined  to  tinisli  up  the  closing 
scene  was  postponed. 

Fathers  of  tlie  faith  and  assassins  besmeared  with  blood  com- 
posed the  company  now  loft  on  their  way  to  the  roabns  of  civil- 
ization. These  incongi-uoiis  extremes,  after  being  several  days 
together,  however,  are  relieved  from  each  others'  presence  by  a 
stroke  ot  retribution  as  sudden  as  the  death  of  La  Salle  himself. 
Joutal's  relation  of  it  is  as  follows : 

"After  we  had  been  some  days  longer  in  the  same  place, 
Hiens  arrived  with  the  two  half-savage  Frenchmen*  and  about 
twenty  natives.  He  went  immediately  to  Duhaut,  and,  after 
some  discourse,  told  him  he  was  not  for  going  toward  the  Mis- 
sissippi, because  it  would  be  of  dangerous  consequence  for  them, 
and  therefore  demanded  his  share  of  the  effects  he  had  seized 
upon.  Duhaut  refusing  to  comply,  and  affirming  that  all  the 
axes  were  his  own.  Hiens,  who  it  is  likely  had  laid  the  design 
before  to  kill  him,  immediately  drew  his  pistol  and  tired  it  upon 
Duhaut,  who  staggered  about  four  paces  from  the  })lace  and  fell 
•<3own  dead.  At  the  same  time,  Ruter,  who  had  been  with  Hiens, 
fired  his  piece  upon  Liotot  the  surgeon,  and  shot  him  througli 
with  three  balls. 

"These  murders  committed  before  us  put  me  into  a  terrible 
consternation ;  for  believing  the  same  was  designed  for  me,  I 
laid  hold  of  my  firelock  to  defend  myself;  but  Hiens  cried  out 
to  me  to  fear  nothing,  to  lay  down  my  arms,  and  assured  me  he 
had  no  design  against  me,  but  that  he  had  revenged  his  master's 
death.  He  also  satisfied  Monsieur  Cavelier  and  Father  Anasta- 
sius.  who  were  as  much  frightened  as  myself,  declaring  he  meant 
them  no  harm,  and  that,  though  he  had  been  in  the  conspiracy, 
yet  had  he  been  present  at  the  time  when  Monsieur  de  La  Salle 
was  killed,  he  would  not  have  consented,  but  rather  have  ob- 
structed it. 

"•  Liotot  lived  some  hours  after,  and  had  the  good  fortune  to 
make  his  confession  ;  after  which,  the  same  Euter  put  him  out 
of  his  pain  with  a  pistol-shot.  We  dug  a  hole  in  the  earth  and 
t>nried  him  in  it  with  Duhaut,  doing  them  more  honor  than  they 
tiad  done  to  Monsieur  de  La  Salle  and  his  nephew  Moranget, 
wli  m  they  left  to  be  devoured   by  wild   beasts.     Thus   those 


*  The  two  savage  Frenchmen  referred  to  by  Joutcl  were  deserters  from  La  Salle's 
ifort  on  Matagorda  Bay  the  year  beforL-.  They  had  cast  their  lot  with  the  Indians, 
*nd  here  met  their  old  comrades  by  chi  .ice. 


Division  of  La  Salle's  Effects.  ^-^ 

murderers   met  with  what   they  had   deserved,  dying  the  same 
death  they  had  put  others  to." 

It  had  been  apparent  to  tlie  innocent  party,  ever  since  the 
<leath  of  La  Salle,  that  tlie  murderers  (hirst  not  return  to  Cana- 
da, and  it  had  been  a  question  not  only  liow  to  obtain  a  share  of 
the  outfit  so  necessary  for  the  wilderness  tour,  but  how  to  part 
company  amicaldy  with  these  odious  associates. 

The  late  death  of  Duhaut  and  Liotot  settled  this  question  very 
readily,  Iliens,  the  leader  of  the  outlaws,  declarini;  that  he  would 
not  risk  his  neck  in  Canada,  and  made  an  equitable  division  of 
the  S])oils.  The  travelers  then  cut  loose  froiu  the  late  scenes  of 
bhK)dshed.  biddini;  adieu  to  the  malcontents,  whose  lot  was  now 
cast  with  tht^se  Indians,  less  savaire  than  themselves. 

The  division  of  the  goods  and  the  final  parting  is  best  told  by 
Joutel,  as  follows : 

'*  Accordingly,  he  laid  aside,  for  Father  Anastasius,  Messieurs 
<  'avelier.  the  uncle  and  the  nephew,  thirty  axes,  four  or  five  doz- 
en of  krnves,  about  thirty  ])ounds  of  powder  and  the  like  quan- 
\\\.j  of  ball.  He  gave  each  of  the  others  two  axes,  two  knives, 
two  or  three  pounds  of  powder,  with  as  much  ball,  and  kept  the 
rest.  As  for  the  horses,  he  took  the  best  and  left  us  the  three 
least.  Monsieur  Cavelier  asked  him  for  some  strings  of  beads, 
which  he  granted,  and  seized  upon  all  the  late  Monsieur  de  La 
Salle's  clothes,  baggage,  and  otlier  efiects,  besides  above  a  thou- 
sand livres  in  money,  which  belonged  to  the  late  Monsieur  Le 
(iros,  who  died  at  our  dwelling  of  St  Louis.  Before  our  de- 
parture, it  was  a  sensible  allliction  to  us  to  see  that  villain  walk 
iibout,  in  a  scarlet  coat  and  gold  galloons,  which  had  belonged 
to  the  late  Monsieur  de  La  Salle,  and  which,  as  I  have  said,  he 
had  seized. 

"  After  that,  Hiens  and  his  companions  withdrew  to  their  own 
cottage,  and  we  resolved  not  to  put  off  our  departure  any  longer. 
Accordingly,  we  made  ready  our  horses,  which  much  alarme<l 
the  natives,  and  especially  the  chief  of  them,  who  said  and  did 
all  he  could  to  obstruct  our  journey,  promising  us  wives,  plenty 
of  provisions,  representing  to  u-  the  immense  dangers,  as  well 
from  (uii'mies  who  surroun^led  them  as  from  tlie  bad  and  im])as- 
sable  ways  and  the  many  woods  and  rivers  we  were  to  pass. 
However,  we  were  not  to  be  moved,  and  only  asked  one  Kind- 
ness of  him,  in  obtaining  of  which  there  were  many  difficulties, 
and  it  was  that  he  would  give  us  guides  to  conduct  us  to  Cappa; 
but  at  length,  after  much  trouble  and  numy  promises  of  a  good 
reward,  one  was  granted,  and  two  others  went  along  with  him. 

*'A11  things  being  thus  ordered  for  our  departure,  we  took 
leave  of  our  hosts,  jiassed  by  Hien's  cottage,  and  embraced  him 
«nd  hib  companions.     We  asked   him  for  another  horse,  which 


64  The  Journey  Resumed. 

lie  granted.  He  desired  an  att<;station,  in  Latin,  of  Monsieur 
Cavelier,  tiiat  he  had  not  been  concerned  in  the  murder  of  Mon- 
sieur do  La  Salle,  M'hich  was  given  him,  because  there  was  no 
refusing  of  it;  and  we  set  forward  with  L'Archever|ue  and  Meu- 
nier,  wiio  did  not  keep  their  word  with  us,  hut  remained  among 
those  barbarians,  being  infatuated  with  that  course  (.)f  libertinism 
they  had  run  themselves  into.  Thus  there  were  oidv  seven  of 
us  that  stuck  together  to  return  to  Canada,  viz :  Fatlier  Anasta- 
tasius.  Messieurs  Cavelier,  the  uncle  and  the  nei>hew,  the  Sieur 
de  Marie,  one  Teissier,  a  y«»ung  man  born  at  Paris,  whose  name 
was  Bartholonievw  and  L  with  six  horses  and  the  three  Indians 
who  were  to  be  our  guides ;  a  very  small  number  for  si>  great  an 
enter])rise,  but  we  put  ourselves  entirely  into  the  hands  of  Di- 
vine Providence,  contiding  in  God's  mercy,  which  did  not  for- 
sake us."' 

While  they  are  lab  )ring  tlirough  the  solitudes  of  the  dreary 
country,  we  will  folhiw  the  adventures  of  Tonty  in  his  noble  at- 
tempt to  rescue  La  Salle's  colony. 

After  the  news  of  La  Salle's  departure  from  France  to  colonizio 
the  J\L'ssissi])pi  country  had  reached  Canada  and  the  Illinois  set- 
tlements, Tonty,  wlio  was  stationed  at  the  latter  place,  was  tire<l 
with  zeal  to  serve  the  new  colony  by  every  means  in  his  power. 
Accordingly,  he  assembled  a  band  of  twenty  Frenchmen  and 
thirty  Lidians,  and  with  ttiis  force,  on  the  i-'Uh  of  February, 
lt)80,  went  down  the  .Mississippi  river  to  its  mouth,  where  he 
ex[)ected  to  find  his  old  friend  La  Salle  at  the  head  of  a  tlourish- 
ing  colony  ;  but  what  was  his  surprise  and  disa))pointment  when, 
after  searching  through  tiie  whole  region,  no  trace  of  it  could  be 
found. 

After  leaving  marks  of  his  presence  in  vari  >us  places,  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  La  Salle,  and  left  it  with  the  chief  of  the  Bayagoulas, 
who  promised  to  send  it  to  him  should  he  ever  learn  his  where- 
abi'Uts. 

Tonty  then  started  up  the  river  witli  his  men  ;  but  when  he 
arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  ho  deemed  it  prudent  to 
build  a  fort,  and  leave  a  force  of  six  men,  among  whom  were 
Couture  and  De  Launay,  here  to  succor  the  colony  if  possible.* 

This  done,  he  returned  to  his  post  in  tlie  Illinois  country. 

For  more  than  a  year  these  sentinels  of  the  forest  renuiined  at 
then'  post,  holding  themselves  in  readiness  for  any  emergency. 

Hani  bv  was  a  large  village  of  the  Arkansas  tribe,  who  enliv- 
eued  the  hermitage  of  the  Frenchmen  with  the  rudo  amusements 
of  Indian  life. 

One  summer  day,  while  the  tedious  hours  were  being  measur- 

*  Tonty's  Memoir,  in  French's  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  I,  p.  68. 


Arrival  at  the  Arkansas.  65 

ed  out  with  their  dull  routine,  the  Frenchmen  were  startled  from 
their  reveries  by  a  French  voice  across  the  river,  which  flowed 
by  their  palisaded  retreat,  and  they  immediately  lired  two  j^uns 
as  a  signal,  which  the  part}'  across  the  river  answered. 

Two  canoes  were  immediately  sent  across  the  river,  and  the 
tired  travelers  were  soon  taken  over  ami  conducted  into  tiie  fort. 

The  reader  scarcely  need  be  told  that  they  were  the  fugitives 
from  La  Salle's  unha])|)y  colony  in  Texas.  Gavelier,  his  brother, 
was  the  ]>rincipal  spokesman,  and  as  he  I'elated  the  long  train  of 
overwhelming  disasters  which  had  bet'alien  the  colony,  and  at 
last  came  to  the  cruel  assassination  of  La  Salle,  their  listeners 
gave  vent  to  their  feelings  in  tears  and  sobs. 

After  a  brief  rest,  the  travelers  resumed  their  journey  for  the 
Illinois  country,  leavitig  the  lonesouje  garrison  at  their  post, 
whose  duties  were  now  to  establish  a  representation  of  French 
interests  in  the  coutitry. 

On  the  l-ith  of  September,  they  arrived  at  the  old  familiar 
grounds  of  Ft.  St.  Louis,  on  the  Illinois  river,  opjiosite  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Utica  ;  and  now  comes  the  strange  part  of  the  history. 

Tonty,  the  commander,  was  absent  iigliting  the  Iroquois,  and 
Bellefoiitaine,  his  lieutenant,  stood  in  his  place.  All  were  eager 
to  get  tidings  from  La  Salle,  and,  in  response  to  their  inquiries, 
they  were  told  tliat  he  was  \vell  when  they  left,  Init  omitted  to 
state  that  he  had  been  assassinated  on  the  way — a  very  question- 
able way  of  telling  the  truth  by  establishing  a  falsehood,  the  in- 
centive for  which,  it  is  but  fair  to  presume,  must  have  been  from 
sinister  motives,  which  suj>|)osition  is  strengthened  by  the  fact 
that  Gavelier  borrowed,  in  La  Salle's  name,  4000  livres  froui 
Tonty. 

It  was  tlie  intention  of  Gavelier  and  his  party  to  repair  imme- 
diately to  France,  nnd  to  this  end  they  made  haste  to  take  their 
departure.  Arriving  at  Ghieago,  whicli  by  this  time  had  become 
famous  as  a  portage,  they  waited  a  week  for  the  storm  to  al)ate, 
before  daring  to  venture  on  the  hd<e  with  their  canoe,  when  thoy 
started,  but  were  soon  diiven  back  by  the  heavy  surf. 

They  now  returned  to  Ft.  St.  Louis,  and  quartered  under  the 
hospitalities  of  Tonty,  whose  frieiKNliij)  for  La  Salle  made  him 
receive  the  sutitle  de-civers  with  welcome. 

The  next  S])ring,  the  party  took  advantage  of  the  first  mild 
weatjier  to  enili;irk  tor  Gaiuida  by  the  (yliieago  route,  and  from 
thetice  siiled  foi-  France,  where  they  at  list  unbosomed  them- 
selves ol  their  terril)le  secret  at  the  French  court.  l)ut,  long  be. 
fore  fliit',  the  withered  germ  of  French  power  in.Texas  had  fall 
en  under  the  war-club  of  the  Indians.* 


•  Tlie  lii'<tiiry  of  its  (lestruclinn  was  furnished    by     tlie    Indians,    lor  which  see 
Sheu's  Discovery  of  the  Missi^sipii  Valley,  p.  208. 


€6  Iberville  and  Bienville. 

The  bones  of  La  Salle  lay  mouldering  beneath  the  luxuriant 
grasses  of  a  Texas  prairie,  but  his  plans  for  the  aggrandizement 
of  New  France  survived  his  untimely  death,  and  and  were  soon 
destined  to  be  renewed  by  Iberville  and  Bienville. 

In  1691>,  these  intrepid  Frenchmen,  who  were  born  and  nur- 
tured among  the  excitements  of  life  in  Canada,  obtained  com- 
mand of  a  small  iieet,  and  made  a  French  settlement  on  Dau- 
phin Island,  off  the  Bay  of  Mobile. 

The  same  year  they  entered  the  mouth  of  tiie  Mississippi  riv- 
er, and  sailing  up  its  scroll-sliajjed  turnings,  landed  in  the  domin- 
ions of  Tonty's  old  friend  the  chief  of  the  Buyagoulas.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  he  had  left  a  letter  for  La  Salle  with  him, 
when  hf  went  down  the  river  fourteen  years  previously.  This 
letter  had  been  preserved  by  him  during  these  years  with  pious 
care,  and  with  commendable  discretion  he  now  relieved  himself 
of  his  responsibility  by  giving  it  to  Iberville. 

A  permanent  French  colony  was  now  established  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  out  of  which,  a  few  years  later,  grew  the  city  of 
New  Orleans  and  the  settlements  of  the  famous  sugar  plantations 
along  the  river. 

This  was  the  southern  extremity  of  the  French  settlements  in 
America.  Canada  was  the  northern  extremity,  and  Chicago  the 
most  frequented  portage  between  them. 

There  were,  howevei-,  other  i)ortages  of  intercommunication ; 
one  by  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  another  by  the  St.  Joseph 
and  Kiinkakee  rivers,  both  of  which  had  been  traveled,  the  one 
by  Marquette  and  the  other  by  La  Salle,  as  already  related. 

The  next  year  ai'rei-  Iberville  and  Bienville's  successful  settle- 
ment at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  the  settlements  of  Kas- 
kaskia  and  Cahokia  were  made,  and  other  thriving  French  vil- 
lages sprung  up  neai'  by  them  a  few  years  later. 

Vincennes.  on  the  Wabash,  was  settled  in  1710,  and  Ft.  Char- 
ters, on  the  Mississippi,  not  far  from  Cahokia,  in  1720.  It  was 
the  strongest  iidand  fortress  in  America,  costing  over  $50,000. 

A  cordon  of  French  forts  extended  fi-om  Canada  to  New  Or- 
leans, at  this  time,  with  which  to  cement  the  vast  extent  of  New 
France  together  by  an  utibroken  chain. 

That  one  of  these  forts  M'as  built  at  Chicago  there  is  sufficient 
evidence,  from  the  fact  that  mention  is  made  of  its  existence, 
by  Tonty,  while  on  his  way  from  Canada  to  the  Illinois  country 
in  1085,  who  uses  the  following  language :  "I  embarked  for  the 
Illinois  Oct.  30th,  1085.  but,  being  stopped  by  the  ice,  I  was 
obliged  to  leave  my  canoe  and  proceed  by  land.  After  going  120 
leagues,  I  arrived  at  Ft.  Chicagon^  where  M.  de  la  Durantaye  com- 
manded.*   No  record  remains  as  to  the  time  of  its  construction. 

♦  Tonty's  ^temoir,  published  in  Hist.  Coll.  of  Lou.,  vol.  i,  p.  67. 


The  Engliah  Colonies.  ''' 

There  was  a  iiiissionai-y  station  here  in  1699,  wliere  the  gospel 
was  dispensed  to  the  Miamis.*  There  appears  also  to  have  been 
a  French  village  here  at  that  time,  as  St.  Cosme  speaks  of  a  lost 
hoy  at  the  time  of  his  passing  through  the  place,  and  several 
Frenclmieii  turning  out  to  hnnt  for  him  among  the  tall  grasses. 
After  thirteen  days,  the  boy  returned  to  the  village,  spent  with 
hunger  and  fatigue,  and  almost  insensible. -f- 

While  these  events,  so  auspicious  to  the  French  in  the  interim, 
were  passing,  the  Phiglish  colonists  were  at  work  within  a  very 
circumscribed  compass,  along  the  eastern  fringe  of  the  continent. 

The  Massachusetts  cok)Dy  was  composed  of  Puritans  after  the 
Cotton  Mather  pattern. 

The  Connecticut  and  the  New  Hampshire  colonies  were  also 
fashioned  after  the  same  model. 

The  Ehode  1-land  colony  was  modified  somewhat  by  the  libe- 
ralism of  lioger  Williams,  Wheelright,  Yane,  and  Atme  Hutch- 
inson, 

The  Germans  along  the  Hudson  river  were  not  unlike  this 
same  thrifty  peo|)le  of  our  day. 

On  the  Delaware  were  the  Swedes  and  Fins,  models  of  frugal- 
ity and  piety. 

In  Pennsylvania  were  the  English  Quakers,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  broad-gauge  brain  of  William  Penn. 

In  Virginia  was  tlie  true  type  of  English  chivalry. 

The  Puritans  may  justly  be  called  the  conscience  of  the  nation, 
and  the  Virginians,  with  equal  propriety,  the  sword  of  the  nation. 

In  the  Carolinas  were  Huguenots  and  Quakers,  and  in  Geor- 
gia respectable  Englishmen,  not  conspicuous  for  any  tangent 
points  of  character,  except  the  ambitious  aims  indispensable  to 
American  emigrants. 

No  confederation  or  bond  of  union  existed  between  these  dif- 
ferent colonies,  but  the  exploits  of  the  French  in  the  West  were 
rapidly  hastening  an  issue  bound  to  unite  them  together  in  a 
bond  of  union  which  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  French  and  In- 
dian war. 

AVhile  this  issue  is  maturing,  Chicago  must  slumber  in  obscu- 
rity. 

*  Early  Voyages,  p.  50,  published  by  Joel  Munsel,  Albany, 
t  Early  Voyages,  pp.  56-8. 


CHAPTER  lY. 

First  Passage  through  the  Detroit  River — A  Stone  Stattie  found 
there — English  on  the  Upper  Lakes — Settlement  of  Detroit — 
The  Foxes  Attack  the  Place — Mission,  of  Fathr  Marquette 
at  MicJiiliraaekinac — Cahokia  and  Kaskaskia  Settled — Ft. 
Chartres —  Vmcennes  Settled — Comparison  of  the  English 
with  the  French  Colonies — The  Paris  Convention  to  Establish 
the  Tine  hetiveen  the  English  and  French  in  Aineriea — 
Convention  at  Albany — The  Ohio  Company — Ihe  French 
Build  Forts  on  French  Creek — Gov.  Dinwiddie  sends  Wash- 
ington  to  Warn  them  out  of  the  Country — The  Ohio  Company 
Bend  Trent  to  Build  a  Fort  -where  Pittsburgh  now  stands — 
Pe  is  di'iven  away  by  the  French —  Washi7igt07i  sent  to  the 
F'rontier — lie  Attacks  the  French — Retreats — Builds  Ft.  Ne- 
cessity— The  Fort  taken  by  the  French. 

Detroit  stands  foremost  among  the  cities  of  the  Northwest  in 
local  historic  interest,  although  the  place  was  unknown  to  the 
French  even  for  some  years  after  Lake  Superior  had  been  ex- 
plored to  its  western  extremity  and  missions  established  along 
Its  soutliern  waters. 

The  Ottawa  river  of  Canada,  Lake  Nipr>ising,  and  the  north- 
ern waters  of  Lake  Huron,  were  the  'J^iiniels  by  which  the 
gieat  West  was  lirst  reached  by  the  Frcicl),  and  nearly  theunly 
ones  used  till  La  Salle  had  secured  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  as  a 
highway  from  Canada  to  the  West,  as  told  in  the  previous  chap>- 
ter. 

In  the  autumn  of  16G9,  at  the  Indian  village  of  Ganastogue, 
at  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Ontario,  two  distinguished  ex- 
plorers, La  Salle  and  Jttliet,  met  by  chance.  Joliet  was  on  his 
return  from  atrip  to  the  Upper  Lake,  as  Lake  Sujnrior  was  then 
calkd,  for  the-  purj)ose  of  discovering  the  copier  mines.  In 
reaching  this  place  from  Lake  Su])erior,  he  nmst  have  ])asHed 
down  the  river,  then  without  a  name,  ?i:»w  called  Detroit  river, 
and  first  called  by  the  French  "The  Detroit"  (The  btraits). 
It  is  a  matter  of  record  that  an  old  Indian  village,  c;illed  Teuch- 
sa  Grondie,  stood  originally  there,  but  no  mention  is  made  of  it 
by  Joiiec 


Discovery  of  DUroit.  ^^ 

Tlie  next  spring,  1670,  two  priests,  Galinee  and  Dablon,  on 
their  way  from  Canada  to  the  mission  of  Sainte  Marie,  wliich 
had  been  established  at  the  Sault  the  previous  year,  landed  at  or 
near  the  present  site  of  Detroit.  The  first  object  of  interest  they 
beheld  was  a  barbarous  ])iece  of  stone  sculpture  in  the  human 
form.  This  was  quite  sutHcient  to  unbalance  the  equilibiium  of 
the  two  fathers,  whose  zeal  had  been  whetted  into  an  extrava- 
pmt  ])itch  by  the  liardships  they  had  encountered  on  their  way. 
With  ])ious  indiiynation  they  fell  upon  the  '•  impious  device  "  with 
their  hatchets,  broke  it  in  pieces,  and  hurled  the  fragments  into 
the  river.* 

The  place  would  have  been  brought  to  light  long  before  but 
for  the  Iroquois,  who  guarded  the  passage  of  the  lower  lakes 
with  bull-dog  tenacity,  to  preserve  their  own  nation  and  protect 
their  fur  trade. f 

That  a  fort  was  built  at  Detroit  between  this  time  and  1687  is 
infei'red  from  Tonty's  Memoir,;};  in  which,  while  on  the  way  down 
the  lakes,  he  says :  ''The  Sieur  de  la  Forest  was  already  gone 
with  a  canoe  and  thirty  Frenchmen,  and  he  was  to  wait  for  me 
at  Detroit  till  the  end  of  ]\Iay."  Farther  along  he  continues: 
"We  came,  on  the  l!)th  of 'May  (1687),  to  Ft.  Detroit.  We 
made  some  canoes  of  elm,  and  I  sent  one  of  them  to  Ft.  !St.  Jo- 
seph." 

During  the  few  years  which  succeeded  Frontenac's  recall  from 
the  governor's  chair  of  Canada,  La  Barn;  and  next  Dcnonville 
supjilied  his  place.  Both  ot  their  administrations  were  ushered 
in  with  promises  of  great  results,  but  terminated  in  utter  failures. 
They  had  measured  their  strength  against  the  Iroquois,  who 
proved  too  much  f(>r  them,  both  in  the  tbrum  and  in  the  Held. 

Thos.  Dongan  was  then  colonial  governor  of  IS'ew  York,  whose 
vigorous  and  ambitious  policy,  assisted  by  the  Iroquois,  contem- 
plated the  estiiblishment  of  a  trading  ])ost  at  Michilimackinac, 
for  the  mutual  interests  ot  both,  and.  in  1687,  English  agents 
started  up  the  lakes  for  that  purpose,!  under  protection  of  the 
Iroquois  and  Foxes. 

The  latter  held  supreme  sway  on  those  waters  at  that  time, 
and  were  more  Iriendly  to  the  Engli^h  than  the  Fn-nch,  as  the 

•  Jesuit  Relations,  1670. 

t  Father  Paul  Kaguneau,  in  the  Jesuit  Relations  of  1650,  uses  the  following 
laiii;ua;;e  : 

[  /'/■.ii/s/.tiii'ii  ]  "  All  the  Alijonquiii  iinlinns  who  dwell  to  the  west  of  the  an- 
cient country  ot  the  lluron>,  ami  wlu-ic  (he  f.iiih  has  not  yet  been  alilc  to  find  its 
■way,  are  people  for  whom  we  cannot  havcenuiii^h  compassion.  If  it  \'C  necessary 
that  the  name  of  God  be  admired,  and  the  cross  be  planted  there,  it  shall  be  done 
in  spite  of  all  the  rai;e  of  hell  and  the  cuielty  of  the  Iroquois,  who  are  worse  thaa 
*he  demons  of  hell."  —  I'ages  3o  and  31. 

J  See  Hist.  Coll.  of  Lou.,  vol.  I.  p.  69. 

II  Paris  Doc.  III.,  published  in  Doc.  Mist,  N.  Y.,  vol.  I,  p.  229. 


~<*  The  Knglish  on  the  Upper  Lakes  Captured. 

French   had,  by  some   misdirection,  made   enemies  of  them  at 
their  first  interview. 

After  Tonty  with  his  men  had  left  Detroit,  as  just  told  in  his 
Memoir,  as  he  was  continuing  his  course  along  tlie  lake  si'ore 
toward  Canada,  he  fell  in  company  with  Durantaye  and  Du  Lhut, 
with  their  commands. 

They  had  in  their  custody  thirty  English  prisoners,  whom 
they  had  just  captured  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Huron, 

Farther  along  in  the  Memoir,  Tonty  states  that  he  took  thirty 
more  English  prisoners,  who  were  on  their  way  to  Michilimack- 
inac,  under  command  of  Major  Gregory — that  they  had  with 
them  several  Huron  and  Ottawa  captives,  wiio  had  been  taken 
by  the  Iroquois  and  consigned  to  their  charge — that  they  also 
had  a  "great  quantity  of  brandy"  with  them,  which  Tonty  con- 
gratulated himself  for  having  taken,  inasmuch  as  it  would  have 
(in  his  own  words)  "gained  over  our  allies,  and  thus  we  should 
have  all  the  savages  and  the  English  upon  us  at  once." 

A  war  was  going  on  at  this  time  between  the  Iroquois  and  the 
French,  of  which  the  English  probably  took  advantage  to  at- 
tempt to  gain  a  foothold  on  the  upper  lakes. 

Before  the  war  was  ended,  all  Canada  was  overrun  by  the  Iro- 
quois, Montreal  burned,  and  two  hundred  persons  captured  and 
taken  into  the  wilderness  lodges  of  their  conquerors  in  the  pres- 
ent State  of  IS'ew  Yurk. 

They  were  treated  so  kindly,  however,  that  more  than  half  of 
them  refused  to  return  to  their  linme  in  Montreal  after  peace  had 
been  made,  even  though  the  French  king  conmianded  them  to 
return. 

The  following  September,  16S9,  commissioners  from  the  New 
York  and  New  England  colonies  met  the  Iroquois  deputies  at 
Albany  in  convention,  when  one  of  the  chiefs  congratulated  the 
English  colonists  that  their  chain  of  friendship  was  strengthened 
by  their  burning  of  Montreal. 

Frontenac  was  now  restored  to  power  in  Canada,  and  undei 
his  vigorous  administration  the  Iroquois  were  obliged  to  evacu- 
ate the  French  provinces,  and  the  war  was  transferred  to  the 
territory  of  the  English  colonists,  by  the  burning  of  Schenectady 
and  the  slaughter  of  its  inhabitants.  The  original  plan  of  this 
expedition  was  to  capture  Albany,  the  headquarters  from  which 
the  English  had  iitted  out  their  expedition  to  Michilimackinac,* 
but  on  tiieir  way  they  were  informed  that  there  was  too  large  a 
force  there  for  them  to  encounter,  and  they  attacked  Schenectady 
instead. 

Had  the  English  scheme  to  establish  a  post  at  Michilimacki- 
nac proved  a  success,  the  limits  of  New  France  would  have  been 

•  Paris  Doc.  IV. 


Settlement  of  Detroit.  •  1 

confined  to  the  present  limits  of  Canada,  and  the  whole  western 
country  have  been  opened  immediately  to  English  colonization, 
which  must  have  hastened  its  settlement  at  least  a  generation. 
But  the  whole  plan  miscarried,  if  not  on  account  of  Tonty's 
seizure  of  the  brandy,  at  least  owing  to  the  great  distance  of 
the  post  from  the  English  settlements  and  to  the  allied  action  of 
the  French  and  western  tribes  against  the  Foxes,  whose  imme- 
diate protection  was  necessary  to  the  English  cause  on  the  upper 
lakes. 

This  English  attempt  to  gain  a  foothold  in  the  West  doubtless 
stimulated  the  French  to  hasten  to  completion  their  own  designs 
to  accomplish  the  same  purpose.*  To  this  end  a  council  was 
called  at  Montreal  a  few  years  later,  to  which  the  Canadian  and 
western  tribes  were  invited,  nor  were  their  ancient  enemies  the 
Iroquois  forgotten. 

The  latter  now  disclaimed  any  intention  to  allow  either  the 
French  or  English  to  erect  forts  on  the .  upper  waters,  but  the 
western  tribes  favored  the  plan,  of  course.  Meantime  the  French 
had  already  made  preparations  to  establish  a  post  on  the  Detroit. 

Antoine  de  la  jMotte  Cadillac,  Lord  of  Bouaget  and  Mnuntde- 
sert,  was  on  the  spot,  with  a  commission  from  Louis  XIV.,  as 
commandant  of  Detroit.  He  started  from  Montreal  in  June, 
1701,  with  one  hundred  men  and  all  the  necessary  appliances, 
both  religious  and  secular,  to  form  a  colony,  and  the  next  month 
safely  landed,' tented  upon  the  spot,  built  Ft.  Pontchartrain,  and 
and  commenced  the  settlement  of  the  place. 

The  settlement  was  a  ])ermanent  one,  although  for  many  years 
it  was  often  reduced  to  the  verge  ot  ruin.  The  aimless  charac- 
ter of  the  settlers  was  the  chief  cause  of  this,  but  there  were 
other  hindrances  in  the  way  of  progress.  The  Iroquois  looked 
with  jealous  eyes  upon  them,  but  not  more  so  than  did  the  Eng- 
lish settlements  almig  the  Hudson  ;  and  three  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Detroit,  an  Indian  convention  of  the  tribes  bor- 
dering (H»  the  lakes  was  summoned  to  meet  at  Albany. f 

Here  the  brains  of  those  vacillating  French  allies,  particularly 
the  Ottawas,  were  tempcjrarily  turned  over  to  the  English  inter- 
est, and  on  their  return  they  set  lire  to  the  town,  but  the  flames 
were  soon  extinguished. 

A  second  attempt  to  burn  the  place,  while  it  was  under  com- 
mand of  Tonty,  met  with  no  better  success.  Meantime  Cadillac 
succeeded  in  getting  some  Indians  from  Michilinuickinac  and 
other  places,  whose  friendship  was  of  a  more  abiding  character, 
to  form  a  settlement  near  by,  who  acted  as  a  sort  of  picket  guard 
about  the  place. 

These  consisted  of  Ottawas,  whose  village  was  on   the  river, 

*Lanman's  Mich.,  p.  40.  f  Cass'  Discourse. 


70 


72  Mental  of  Lands  around  Detroit. 

above  the  town,  and  *he  Ilurons  and  Pottawattomies,  whose 
villaijes  were  below.  "^Jomparative  safety  thus  secured,  in  1707 
Cadillac  pureoled  oi  le  adjacent  lands  to  his  unambitious  sub- 
jects on  the  following  terms : 

"By  the  conditions  of  a  f^rant,  made  by  Cadillac,  at  Detroit, 
March  10th,  17u7,  the  grantee,  Francois  Fafard  Delorme  was 
bound  to  pay  a  reserved  rent  of  fifteen  francs  a  year  to  the 
crown,  for  ever,  in  peltries,  and  to  begin  to  clear  and  improve 
the  land  within  three  months  from  the  date  of  the  grant.  All 
the  timber  was  reserved  to  the  crown,  whenever  it  might  be 
wanted  for  fortifications,  or  for  the  construction  of  boats  or  other 
vessels.  The  property  of  all  mines  and  minerals  was  reserved 
to  the  crown.  The  privilege  of  hunting  rabbits,  hares,  part- 
ridges, and  pheasants,  was  reserved  to  the  grantor.  The  gran- 
tee was  bound  to  plant,  or  help  to  plant,  a  long  May-pole  before 
the  door  of  the  principal  njunor-house,  on  the  first  day  of  May 
in  every  year.  All  the  grain  raised  by  the  grantee  was  to  be 
carried  to  the  mill  of  the  njanor  to  be  ground,  paying  the  tolls 
sanctioned  by  the  custom  of  Paris.  On  every  sale  of  the  land 
a  tax  was  levied ;  and,  before  a  sale,  the  grantee  was  bound  to 
give  information  to  the  govei'nment,  and  if  the  government  was 
willing  to  take  the  land  at  the  price  oft'ered  to  the  grantee,  it 
was  to  have  precedence  as  r.  parchaser.  The  grantee  could  not 
mortgage  the  land  without  the  consent  of  the  government.  For 
a  term  of  ten  years,  the  gi  autee  was  not  permitted  to  work,  or 
cause  any  person  to  work,  directly  or  indirectly,  at  the  profession 
and  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  locksmitii,  armorer,  or  brewer,  \yith- 
out  a  permit.  All  cflffcts  and  articles  of  merchandise,  sent  to  or 
brought  from  Montreal,  were  to  be  sold  by  the  grantee  himself, 
or  other  person  who,  with  his  family,  was  a  French  reside:. fc; 
and  not  by  servants  or  clerks  or  foreigners  or  strangers.  The 
grantee  was  forbidden  to  sell  or  trade  spirituous  liquors  to  In- 
dians. He  was  bound  to  sufifer  on  his  lands  such  roads  as  might 
be  thought  necessary  for  public  use.  lie  was  bound  to  make 
his  fences  in  a  certain  manner,  and,  when  called  upon,  to  assist 
in  making  his   neighbors'  fences."* 

As  might  bo  supposed,  little  progress  could  be  made  by  the 
inhabitants,  shackled  as  they  were  by  such  oppressive  restric- 
tions, and  environed  by  the  warlike  Foxes,  liable  at  the  slightest 
provocation  to  attack  them.  In  May,  1712,  incited  by  a  blood- 
thirsty spirit  or  possibly  by  a  promise  of  a  reward  from  the  Iro- 
quois or  their  patrons,  the  En<;lish  colonists,  they  laid,  as  they 
supposed,  secret  plans  to  attack  the  place. 

The  occupants  of  the  three  friendly  Indian  villages  adjoining 
were  absent,  and  but  for  the  disclosures  of  a  converted  Indian 

•Am.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  v.  I,  261. 


Settlencent  of  Michilimackinac,  73 

of  the  Fox  nation,  the  place  must  have  been  taken,  for  there 
was  but  a  slender  iranisou  to  defend  it.  The  savage  disciple  to 
the  Catholic  faith,  whose  newly-bred  conscience  impelled  him  to 
act  the  apostate  to  his  own  people,  obtained  an  interview  with 
M.  Du  Buison,  the  commandant,  and  revealed  the  secret  to  him 
in  time  to  make  preparation  for  the  impending  blow. 

Cadillac  was  now  Intendant  of  Louisiana  and  busy  with  Cro- 
zat  in  a  butterfly  chase  after  supposed  gold  mines,  and  the  entire 
responsibilities  rested  upon  I)u  Buison.  He  immediately  sent 
deputies  to  the  various  tribes  to  the  south  and  west,  whose  jeal- 
ous}' of  the  ferocious  Foxes  made  them  his  ready  allies.  "Yes, 
we  will  come  and  defend  you,  and  all  we  ask  is,  that  you  cover 
the  bodies  of  such  of  us  as  are  slain,  with  a  little  earth,  to  keep 
the  flies  away,"  was  their  reply.* 

The  zealous  allies  came,  and  were  received  within  the  gates 
of  the  fort,  and  on  the  13th  of  May  the  attack  was  commenced 
from  an  intrenchment  hastily  thrown  up  by  the  determined  Fox- 
es, commanding  the  outworks  of  the  French  defences.  To  drive 
them  from  their  position,  the  besieged  erected  a  block-house 
commanding  it.f 

The  strife  soon  became  desperate.  For  nineteen  days  the  bat- 
tle raged,  the  victory  alternating  from  one  side  to  the  other,  till 
the  Foxes  withdrew  under  cover  of  night.  They  were  followed, 
and  the  fiercest  battle  of  the  war  ensued,  in  which  the  Foxes 
were  routed  and  driven  from  the  country  to  Green  Bay.:}: 

This  danger  passed,  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit  basked  in  the 
sunshine  of  peace  and  security  from  further  alarms,  till  the 
French  and  Indian  war  had  spent  its  force  along  the  far-off  east- 
ern frontier,  and  an  English  garrison  had  taken  quiet  possession 
of  the  town.  Then  again  the  desoUitions  of  Fontiac's  war  rolled 
over  their  heads  fiercer  than  ever;  but  till  then  the  peasant  liab- 
itant  of  the  place  paid  his  annual  rental,  cultivated  his  garden 
patch,  and  lived  a  thoughtless  life,  like  the  population  of  other 
French  towns  in  the  wilderness  solitudes  of  New  France. 

^lichilimackinac  was  settled  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
belore  Detroit.  Its  name  is  of  Indian  origin,  thp  language  of 
which  is,  The  Place  of  the  Dancing  Spirits.|  It  had  a  history 
before  the  white  man  ever  visited  it,  of  which  a  volume  might 
be  written,  from  the  traditions  of  the  red  man.  Its  first  settle- 
ment by  the   French  was  made  about  the  year  1G71,  at  which 


*  Monette's  Miss.  Val. 

t  Cass'  Discourse. 

j  From  Green  Bay  they  next  emigrated  to  Rock  river,  in  Illinois,  and  remained 
till  1832,  the  time  of  the  Black  Hawk  war. 

y  This  is  Schoolcraft's  version.  Others  equally  authoritative,  say  it  meant  a  tur- 
tle. The  discrepancy  probably  comes  irom  the  word  having  different  significa- 
tions in  different  Indian  dialects. 


T4       Settlement  of  Cahokia,  Ka8kaskia,  and  Vincennes. 

time  some  converted  Hurons  fled  to  tLe  plac  '  as  a  refuge  of  safe- 
ty from  their  demon-like  persecutors,  the  Iroquois,  and  here  the 
good  Father  Marquette  followed  them,  impelled  not  by  any 
worldly  motive,  but  by  the  love  of  God  and  man,  and  obedience 
to  the  will  of  his  patron  saint,  "the  Blessed  Virgin." 

For  many  years  the  place  had  no  permanent  settlers,  but  serv- 
ed as  a  transient  stopping'  place  for  itinerating  priests  and  erratic 
fur-traders. 

Of  the  little  cluster  of  early  French  towns  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  Illinois,  Cahokia  was  settled  lirst,  bv  Father  Finet  and 
St.  Cosme,  in  1700.'^  Kaskaskiawas  settled  a  few  months  later. 
These  and  other  smaller  places  close  by  soon  became  thriving 
French  villages ;  all  the  more  so  as  they  were  in  no  danger  of 
hostile  invasion  from  any  quarter. 

Ft.  Charters  was  a  substantial  fortress,  built  of  stone,  with 
bastions  and  towers.  It  was  finished  in  1720,  and  would  have 
stood  for  centuries  but  for  the  wearing  away  of  the  Mississippi 
river's  east  bank,  on  which  it  stood,  half  way  between  Cahokia 
and  Kaskaski.a.  The  portions  of  it  not  thus  undci-ininod  are  still 
left  in  a  good  state  of  preservation,  as  a  jn(juument  of  French 
occupation  of  the  Mississippi  Vnlley. 

Vincennes  was  settled  by  Father  Mermet  in  1710.  f  This  was 
an  isolated  French  post,  buried  in  the  depths  of  the  gigantic  for- 
ests of  tlie  lower  Wabash.  Here  the  French  lived  and  grew  in 
an  atmosphere  of  Indian  social  life,  till  the  tires  of  the  American 
Revolution,  kindled  afar  off,  soon  came  to  their  doors,  as  will 
appear  in  a  succeeding  chaj)ter. 

Sharp  lines  of  contrast  in  religion  and  government,  between 
the  English  and  French  colonies  of  America,  were  everywhere 
visible.  The  tairest  portions  of  the  country  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  French,  and  almost  the  entire  Indian  ])opulation  of  the 
vallies  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Lawrence  were  their  allies. 
Throughout  this  immense  territory,  including  also  the  entire- 
lake  country,  the  flag  cf  France  waved  in  security  among  the 
confiding  mitives,  witli(>ut  the  least  apprehension  of  future  dan- 
ger from  its  patronage.  They  cultivated  their  scanty  patches  of 
corn,  just  enough  to  keep  them  in  houiin\\  and  in  the  winter 
gathered  in  a  rich  harvest  of  furs,  wherewith  to  spread  their 
tents  with  mats  and  to  barter  with  the  French  traders  for  guns, 
kettles,  knives,  hatchets,  vermilion  with  which  to  paint  their 
faces,  and  the  inevitable  whisky. 

•  A  tract,  reprinted  by  Shea  in  1859,  entitled  "  Relation  ou  Journal  du  voyage 
du  R.  P.  Gravier,  de  la  Conipngnic  de  Jesus  en  1700  do  pujs  le  pays  des  Illinoi* 
jusq'a  rembouchcre  du  Mississippi,  Etrit  ou  Tcre  de  L.Tmliecvilie  et  envoye  du 
fort  de  Mississiippi  a  17  lieues  de  s.i  decharge  dans  le  Gn  fe  ou  Mer  Mexique  le  16 
Fevrier,  1701,"  is  the  authority  from  which  the  above  is  takea. 

f  Law's  History  of  Vincennes,  p.  la. 


Contrast  between  the  English  and  French  Colonies.       75 

The  fur  trade  was  the  great  interest  of  the  country,  and  those 
engaged  in  it  were  men  of  no  ordinary  capacity  for  accom- 
plishing large  results  with  slender  means.  Their  every-da}'  rou- 
tine was  a  heavy  strain  upon  their  physical  as  well  as  mental 
powers,  as  far  as  sharp  bargain  and  sale  was  concerned.  Yet 
they  were  hut  servile  instruments  in  the  hands  of  their  superiors. 
The  same  might  with  equal  propriety  have  been  said  of  the  en- 
tire French  po})ulation  of  the  country,  who  lived  by  indur^try, 
if  the  average  of  a  day's  labor  in  a  week  could  be  called  such. 

Farming  was  of  but  secondary  interest,  and  but  few  of  those 
engaged  in  it  owned  the  land  they  tilled,  nor  had  they  the  least 
desire  to  own  it. 

The  French  villages  in  the  Illinois  country,  as  well  as  at  most 
other  places,  were  each  under  the  government  of  a  priest,  who, 
besides  attending  to  their  spiritual  wants,  dispensed  justice  to 
them,  and  from  his  decisions  there  was  no  ai)i)eal.  Though  this 
authority  was  absolute,  the  records  of  the  times  show  no  abuse 
of  it,  but,  on  the  contrary,  prove  that  it  was  always  used  with 
paternal  care.  It  could  hardly  be  otherwise  in  their  wilderness 
isolation,  uniting,  as  it  did,  the  interests  of  all  on  one  common 
level.  Nevertheless,  it  was  a  modified  form  of  feudalism,  sub- 
ordinating everything  to  the  will  of  the  Church  and  State  com- 
bined, and  could  not  have  been  perpetuated  into  tiie  maturity  of 
the  State  with  the  same  happy  results  that  followed  its  begin- 
ning. 

The  juble  power,  thus  gathering  force  and  keeping  pace 
with  ti.e  growth  of  the  State,  was  too  transcendant  for  the  varied 
and  multiplied  wants  of  individual  enterprise.  But  the  French 
peasant  did  not  look  ahead  so  fur  as  this.  He  was  contented, 
because  his  mind  was  dwarfed  within  the  narrow  compass  of 
present  necessities,  and  his  old-fashioned  but  gaudy  attire,  as  wed 
as  his  d.dly  bread,  came  with  asmtiil  effort.  Without  ambition, 
and  almost  without  temptation  to  offend  against  his  fellows,  he 
had  little  to  trouble  Ids  conscience,  or,  if  he  had  anything,  the 
burden  was  readily  lifted  by  his  father  confessor.* 

Turning  from  this  jiicture  to  that  of  the  English  colonies,  is 
like  leaping  over  an  unb'idged  chasm.  Here  two  positive  ele- 
ments rose  into  prominence,  like  indigenous  trees  in  a  forest. 
The  most  potent  of  these  was  the  Puritan  element.  When  the 
Protestant  religion  was  first  introduced  into  England  in  1528,  its 
proselytes,  though  not  men  of  deeper  thought*  than  those  of 
Bavaria,  Wirtemburg,  and  Moravia,  yet  were  more  demonstra- 
tive and  aggressive  than  tiieir  German  brethren,  and,  in  1550, 
the  new  faitli  had  grown  into  formidnble  })roportions.     In  1563, 

^^—  ■■  --       ■    .     ■  .— .--       ...ll  ■»  <  <-  ■MB 

*  R»vnal'8  Hist.  East  and  Wei>t  Indies ;  Moiiette's  Miss.  Valley  ;  Mr  tin's  Loo- 
Waiift. 


76  The  Limits  of  New  France. 

an  open  issue  was  taken  with  the  established  church,  and  U  ni 
that  day  till  the  Puritans  planted  their  feet  on  the  rock  of  Ply- 
mouth, there  was  no  truce  to  religious  agitation  in  England. 
This  rock  proved  a  safety-valve  for  the  preservation  of  the  old 
Er.glish  Church  and  State,  united  as  they  were  into  one  marvel- 
ous tower  of  strength,  in  defi  mico  of  the  Puritan  element. 

Happy  was  it  for  the  world  that  Plymouth  Rock  became  the 
retort  wliich  concentrated  the  elastic  force  of  Puritanism  and 
economised  it  for  the  use  of  America,  there  to  grow  up  with  the 
new  State,  modiiied  by  the  public  ])()licy  of  government  better 
suited  to  the  wants  of  the  master  spirits  of  that  age,  because  it 
was  one  of  their  own  making. 

When  these  fugitives  crossed  the  Atlantic,  the}'  brought  with 
them  the  true  philosopher's  stone.  They  represented  the  ele- 
ments of  national  progress  on  a  grander  scale  than  had  ever  en- 
tered into  the  imagination  of  a  knight  of  a  baronial  castle.  Sci- 
ence, literature,  and  exalted  it'eas  of  liberty,  were  everywhere 
diffused  and  written  upon  the  immaculate  tablet  which  was  open- 
ed before  them  beyond  the  Atlantic. 

The  other  element  of  American  power  was  planted  at  James- 
town. Here  the  acknowledged  representative  of  the  English- 
man, supreme  in  his  convictions  of  propriety,  planted  his  stand- 
ards, and  became  the  chivalric  representative  of  liberty  in  its 
broadest  sense. 

Poth  the  Jamestown  and  Plymouth  elements  rapidly  grew  into 
power,  and,  forgetting  the  old  religious  issues  that  had  made 
enemies  of  their  fathers,  united  together  and  subordinated  the 
German  and  the  Swedish  colonies  to  their  rule.  Along  the 
Atlantic  coast  the  various  colonies,  extending  from  the  New 
Hampshire  colony  to  the  Georgia  colony,  were  under  English 
protection,  and  held  their  lands  by  virtue  of  English  charters, 
but  between  each  no  confederation  had  eve  been  thought  of. 

Up  to  this  time  the  colonists  had  manif<'>  1  but  little  concern 
about  the  interior,  except  the  Virginia  co.'-;  j*,  who  had  pushed 
across  the  Alleghenies,  and  founded  some  trading  stations  on 
the  head-waters  oi  the  Ohio  river. 

The  great  question  to  be  settled  was.  Where  should  the  lino 
be  run  between  New  France  and  the  lands  of  the  En:.'liHh  colo- 
nists in  America?  From  its  magnitude,  it  had  already  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  powers  of  Europe,  who  were  on  the  watch 
lest  their  balance  of  ])ower  "should  be  thrown  out  of  cquililirium 
by  too  great  a  share  of  the  \nierican  continent  falHng  into  the 
hands  of  either  France  or  i.ngland.  Accordingly,  by  the  treaty 
of  Aix  la  (-haj)elle,  in  1748,  which  hu-^hed  l'iuroi)eto  peace  after 
thirty  years  of  war,  it  was  ])rovided  that  the  line  should  be  estab- 
lished by  commissioners  ap|)ointed  by  the  soven-igns  of  the  two 
res2)ective  nations.     In  1752,  these  commissioners  met  in  Paris, 


The  Convention  at  Albany. 


1 1 


but  out  of  the  tangle  of  old  English  charters,  French  forms  of 
possession,  etc.,  no  result  could  be  reached  which  satisfied  the 
ambitious  designs  of  botli  countries,  and  the  question  was  left  to 
be  settled  by  future  destiny.  To  control  this  destiny,  prepara- 
tions fi)r  war  were  now  made  on  both  sides. 

The  French  strengthened  their  forts,  particularly  Louisburg 
on  the  coast  of  Cape  Breton,  Quebec,  and  Crown  Point  on  the 
west  bank  of  Lake  Champlain.* 

The  English,  on  their  part,  called  a  convention  of  their  thir- 
teen colonies  in  America,  to  meet  at  Albany  in  June,  1753,  for 
the  purpose  of  concerting  measures  of  defense.  Here  were  as- 
sembled the  representatives  of  the  crown,  sapient  and  cautious, 
but  not  more  so  than  the  deputies  of  her  trans-Atlantic  chihiren. 
The  crown  representatives  refused  to  acknowledge  any  united 
action  of  the  colonies,  lest  this  union  might  at  some  future  day 
become  too  powerful  for  the  public  welfare,  while  the  colonies 
refused  to  sign  a  compact  giving  the  mother  country  the  right  to 
tax  them  even  for  detetisive  purposes.  No  logic  on  either  side 
could  break  through  this  dead-lock,  and  the  convention  adjourn- 
ed without  accomplishing  any  result. 

Meantime,  the  issue  was  hastening  to  a  crisis  on  the  western 
frontier.  As  early  as  1748,  Conrad  Weiser  (a  noted  intcr]n-eter 
at  Indian  treaties^  had  been  on  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio  river 
as  agent  for  the  Ohio  Company,  then  forming.  A  tradiiii;  sta- 
tion at  Logstown.  eighteen  miles  below  the  fork  of  the  Ohio, 
was  then  established  by  this  company,  which  was  co)n])osed  of 
Virginians,  among  whom  were  Lawrence  and  Augustine,  broth- 
ers of  George  Washington.  Half  a  million  acres  of  land  ware 
granted  them  by  the  crown  of  England,  for  ])urj)oses  of  coloni- 
zation. Two  other  companies  were  also  chartered,  for  similar 
pur])oses,  the  same  year. 

8oon  as  the  French  learned  of  this,  Gallisoniere,  Governor  of 
Catuula,  deti'rniined  also  to  assrrt  the  Fn-iich  claim  to  the  coun- 
try along  the  Ohio,  and  the  next  year,  17-H',  sent  Caj)t.  Louis 
Celoron  to  the  present  site  of  Erie,  Pa.,  with  orders  to  ])roceed 
thence  to  the  head  of  a  small  creek  eighteen  miles  distant,  and 
follow  down  its  banks  to  the  Alleglu'ny  river,  and  down  this 
Stream  to  the  Ohio  river,  burying  k-aden  ])lates  along  the  route, 
as  monuments  of  French  possession  west  of  this  line.  This  done, 
he  sent  a  letter  to  (iov.  Hamilton,  of  Pennsylvania,  to  warn  tlio 
English  not  to  trespass  beyond  it. 

The  same  year,  two  more  English  trading  ])ost3  were  estab- 
lished in  tlie  \\\st — one  on  the  Gi-at  Miami  river,  culled  Lora- 
iniu's  store,  and  the  other  on  the  Maumeu. 

•This  fort  hul  hccn  built  by  tlic  Krench  in  1731.  It  Wi's  within  llie  ncknowl- 
edgcii  bmiis  ol  En|;li>h  territory,  but  had  been  hcM  ever  since  by  tlie  French,  as 
•  standing  menace  lo  the  liudkoa  river  settlements,  aggrc&bivc  and  dcliauU 


fS        The  French  Capture  the  English  Trading  Posts. 

The  succeeding  year,  1750,  Christopher  Gist,  an  intrepid  fron- 
tiersman and  surveyor,  started  on  a  tour  of  exploration  from  the 
head-waters  of  the  Potomac,  hite  in  October.  Pushing  boldly 
into  the  savage  glooms  of  the  forest  west  of  the  fork  of  the  Ohio, 
he  crossed  the  Scioto  and  visited  tlie  Indian  towns  on  the  Miami ; 
but  he  was  not  the  first  Englishman  on  the  disputed  ground. 
George  Crogan  and  Andrew  Montour,  both  celebrated  for  fron- 
tier accomplishments,  were  then  among  the  vai'ious  Indian  tribes, 
to  intluenee  them  in  favor  of  the  English  and  secure  their  trade. 
Mr.  Gist  conferred  with  both  these  men,  w^ho  warned  him  against 
visiting  certain  localities  where  the  French  interest  prevailed. 
But  there  was  among  the  Indians  a  division  of  sentiment  as  to 
whose  cause  they  should  espouse  in  the  coming  issue,*  and  never 
were  a  people  more  perplexed  to  know  on  which  side  their  inter- 
est laid. 

While  Mr.  Gist  was  making  this  tour,  news  came  to  him  of 
the  capture  of  several  Englishmen  by  the  French  along  the  north- 
ern waters  of  the  Ohio. 

On  the  Muskingum  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a-white  wo- 
man \vXio  had  been  captured  from  the  New  Enghmd  States  at  the 
age  of  ten  years.  She  was  now  over  tifty,  the  wife  of  an  Indian 
and  mother  of  several  children.  She  had  a  vivid  recollection  of 
her  childhood  home,  of  the  religious  turn  of  the  Puritan  mind, 
and  was  much  astonished  at  the  wickedness  slie  had  seen  prac- 
ticed by  the  white  people  when  they  came  among  the  Indians. f 

Mr.  Gist  crossed  the  Oliio  river  and  returned  home,  in  May, 
1751,  l)y  the  way  of  the  Kentucky  river  settlements,  which  were 
then  in  tlieir  infanc}'. 

Early  the  next  year  the  French  visited  the  country  in  sufficient 
force  to  capture  the  Englisli  trading  post  on  the  Miami.     A  des- 

Eerate  defence,  however,  was  made,  fourteen  of  the  assailants 
aving  bcjn  killed.  The  traders  were  taken  to  Canada.  Seve- 
ral English  families  lived  at  this  post,  which  made  it  the  begin- 
ning: of  a  &ettlement  as  well  as  a  trading  j)ost.  The  Twightwees 
or  Miamis  helped  to  defend  the  place,  while  the  Ottawas  and 
Chippewas  assisted  the  French  in  taking  it. 

While  these  acts  of  hostility  were  transpiring  on  the  Miami, 
the  Ohio  Company  were  convening  a  council  at  Logstown  with 
the  Indians,  for  the  purjiose  of  conlirming  the  old  treaty  of  Lan- 
caster, by  virtue  of  which  large  tracts  of  laiul  on  the  Ohio  had 
been  ceded  to  this  company  by  the  Six  Nations.:}:  Through  the 
influence  of  Montour,  the  treaty  was  reluctantly,  on  the  part  of 

*  The  Miamis  or  Twightwees  were  friendly  to  the  English,  and  portions  of  the 
Six  Nations  and  Delaware-^,  who  had  emigrated  to  the  Ohio  country  from  the  East. 

t  Journal  of  Gist,  published  in  Pownall's  Topography,  London,  1776. 

X  The  treaty  of  Lancaster  was  a  cession  of  Ohio  lands  to  the  English  by  the  Sii 
Nations,  by  virtue  of  their  conquest  of  the  tribes  occupying  said  lands. 


Washington''  s  Mission.  ^*^ 

the  Indians,  confirmed ;  but  tlie  war  which  soon  followed  swept 
away  all  these  distinctions  as  to  land  titles. 

The  French,  meantime,  according  to  their  usual  practice,  early 
in  1753  commenced  building  forts  in  the  disputed  territory. 
The  first  one.  named  Presque  Isle,  was  built  where  Erie,  Pa., 
now  stands.  From  this  place  they  cut  a  wagon  road  eighteen 
miles  southwardh',  througli  the  forest,  to  a  small  lalvC  near  the 
present  site  of  Waterford.  Here  they  built  another  fort,  whicli  they 
named  Le  Bceuf ;  thence,  following  down  the  stream  of  which 
this  was  the  fountain-head,  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Alle- 
gheny river,  they  built  a  third  fort,  which  they  named  Venango, 
after  an  old  Indian  town  on  the  same  spot.  These  forts  were  on 
the  same  line  along  which  Capt.  Ccloran  had  buried  leaden 
plates  tour  j-ears  ])reviously. 

Governor  Dinwiddle,  of  the  Virginia  colony,  always  tenacious 
in  the  defence  of  English  rights,  beheld  these  French  ap])roache8 
to  the  Ohio  with  deej)  concern.  Here  was  the  pivot  on  which 
hung  the  fate  of  the  West  and  the  then  limitless  interior.  To 
secure  at  least  a  foothold  in  it.  he  determined  to  send  a  messen- 
ger to  the  French,  to  warn  them  that  the  English  claimed  the 
country  on  the  head- waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  request  them  to 
leave  it. 

George  Washington,  then  twenty-one  years  old.  was  selected 
for  this  mission.  He  had  eight  attendants,  the  two  principal  of 
whom  were  (Christopher  Gist,  the  surveyor  already  mentioned, 
and  Jacob  Van  Eraum,  an  intelligent  German,  who  afterwards 
acted  as  interpreter  at  the  surrender  of  Ft.  Tsecessity.  He  left 
Wills  Creek,  the  present  site  of  Cumberland,  on  the  'l5th  of  No- 
vember, 1753.  Al  Logstown  dwelt  a  famous  Six  Nation  chief, 
named  Half-King,  who  was  a  fiiend  to  Washington,  and  whose 
jealousy  of  the  French  made  him  an  ally  of  the  English.  Deem- 
ing his  counsel,  and  especially  his  influence,  indispensable  to  the 
success  of  the  enterprise,  Washington  proceeded  immediatelv  to 
his  headquarters  and  obtained  an  interview  with  him.  Whatever 
else  may  be  tlie  frailties  of  Indian  character,  hasty  diplomacy  is 
not  one  of  them,  as  Washington  learned.  Three  days  of  his 
precious  time  were  consumed  in  attendance  on  his  majesty.  The 
ceremonials  of  the  council  over.  Half  King  entered  heartily  into 
Washington's  ])lans,  and,  with  tliree  other  chiefs,  accompanied 
him  to  Ft.  Le  Ikeuf,  the  headquarters  of  M.  Le  Guarduer  St. 
Pierre,  the  commander  of  the  French  forces. 

Their  route  lay  nortiiward.  through  the  forests,  to  the  mouth 
of  Le  Boeuf  Creek,  now  called  French  Creek,  thence  up  its  banks 
to  Ft.  Le  Eceuf  On  arriving  at  the  j)lace  they  met  the  com- 
mander. Ho  was  an  accomplished  and  scholarly  old  knight,  and 
notwithstanding-  the  rustic  appearance  of  the  beardless  youth  be- 
fore him,  who  came  with  a  message  warning  him  to  leave,  he 


80  The  Perilous  Return. 

received  him  with  deserved  attention  ;  for  nobility  of  character 
cannot  he  disguised  by  a  rough  exterior  in  the  estimation  of  one 
who  possesses  it  himself.  During  the  two  days  Washington 
spent  at  the  place,  the  hospitalities  of  the  fort  were  extended  to 
liim  with  that  hearty  good-fellowship  for  which  a  Frenchman  is 
conspicuous. 

As  miglit  be  supposed,  the  mission  was  fruitless  of  results,  for 
the  French  commander  did  not  allow  himself  to  lose  sight  of  the 
interests  of  Fi-ance,  and,  to  that  end,  plied  his  arts  of  pleasing 
to  Ilalf-Kiijg  also. 

Tiiis  was  a  matter  of  no  small  annoyance  to  Washimrton. 
whose  apprehensions  being  aroused  thiit  he  might  win  him  over 
to  the  friendship  of  the  French  by  the  influence  of  his  free  wines, 
he  openly  accused  him  of  snch  an  intention  ;  but  the  complacent 
diplomat  silenced  these  charges  with  fresh  sallies  of  politeness, 
and  thus  the  matter  ended. 

When  W'ashington  was  about  taking  leave,  the  generous 
Frenchman  presented  him  a  canoe  well  filled  with  provisions, 
among  which  the  wine  was  not  forgotten. 

AVasliington  with  Gist  started  down  French  Creek  with  the 
canoe,  giving  orders  to  Van  Braum  to  meet  him  at  Venango,  its 
mouth,  with  the  men  and  horses  accompanying  the  expedition. 
Tiie  canoe  was  now  abandoned,  Ilalf-Kii'g  and  the  other  chiefs 
wishing  to  i-emain  here.  Washington  and  his  party  took  leave  of 
them  and  started  down  the  west  bank  of  the  Allegheny  river. 

The  poor  horses  were  so  spent  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  that 
tlieir  progress  through  the  trackless  forests  was  slow,  and  Wash- 
ington determined  to  set  out  on  foot  in  advance  witli  Gist,  and 
leave  the  emaciated  beasts  in  charge  of  Van  Ihaum  and  the  rest 
of  the  party,  to  follow  as  fast  as  they  could  travel. 

It  was  now  December,  and  the  ground  was  covered  with  a 
sprinkling  of  snow,  but  both  of  the  travelers  wore  accustomed 
to  "life  in  the  bush,"  and,  making  light  of  their  forest  march, 
sle))t  away  each  day's  fatigue  enveloped  in  their  blankets,  each 
night,  in  tiie  open  air  of  winter. 

On  their  way,  at  two  different  times,  they  encountered  a  faith- 
less Indian,  Mhose  pretended  friendships  were  abruptly  broken 
off  by  attempts  to  shoot  them,  liapjiily,  each  time,  the  ball 
missed  its  aim,  though  at  one  of  these  troaclurous  attacks  only 
lit'tcen  paces  intervened  between  the  savage;  and  Gist,  his  intend- 
ed victim.  This  danger  passed,  they  soon  arrived  at  the  ]>laco 
where  they  wished  to  cross  the  Alle::hcny  river.  Here  tiiey 
worked  all  day  to  make  a  raft,  having  only  "a  very  poor  hatch- 
et," savs  Washington,  in  his  journal,  to  make  it  with.  Just  be- 
fore dark,  they  launched  it  and  starte<l  for  the  opposite  shore; 
but  when  the  current  was  reached,  heavy  masses  of  ice  eamo 
floaliiiij  down  stream  with  such  forco  as  to  threaten  to  sink  their 


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Both  French  and  English  Forts  Built.  SI 

frail  bark.  To  prevent  this,  Wasliington  thrust  out  a  setting- 
pole  apiinst  the  moving  masses  of  ice,  when,  by  some  misdirect- 
ed strain,  he  was  hurled  into  the  water.  He  soon  regained  the 
raft,  half-paralvzed  by  his  wintry  bath ;  and  now  the  jirobleni 
was,  how  to  gain  the  opposite  shore.  Tiiis  was  impossible,  and 
they  floated  down  with  the  current,  till  an  island,  desolate  liut 
merciful,  caught  them  from  the  dangcnms  toils  of  the  Allegheny. 
Here  they  spent  the  night.  The  cold  was  so  intense  that  Gist's 
feet  were  frozen  in  the  morning,  and  he  could  hardly  walk.  A 
solid  bridge  of  ice  had  formed,  over  which  they  passed  to  the 
eastern  shore,  and  the  river  was  crossed. 

Washington  now  assisted  his  disabled  companion  along  the 
rugged  way,  till  the  trading  establishment  of  a  Mr.  Frazier  was 
reached,  a  few  miles  below,  and  here  they  rested  three  days. 
Thence  Washington  proceeded  to  the  settlements,  reaching  Wills 
Creek  January  Oth,  1754. 

The  message  he  brought  from  the  French  commander,  refus- 
ing to  leave  the  country  unless  ordered  to  do  so  by  the  Marquis 
Du  Quesne,  Governor  of  Canada,  was  handed  to  Governor  Din- 
widdle. 

The  latter  had  not  been  idle  during  the  interval  of  suspense. 
He  had  appealed  to  Governor  Hamilton,  of  the  Pennsylvania 
colon}',  who  in  turn  used  his  utmost  exertions  to  awaken  his  con- 
stituents to  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  to  this  end  sum- 
moned an  extra  session  of  the  Assembly  at  Philadelphia;  but 
this  body  were  divided  in  opinion  as  to  whether  the  French  were 
invading  the  country  belonging  to  the  English  crown,  and,  un- 
der the  inspiration  of  the  teachings  of  William  Penn  and  the 
Quaker  doctrines  of  ]ieace,'Suggested  that  the  country  in  ques- 
tion belonged  to  neither  the  English  nor  the  French,  but  to  the 
Indians.  This  was  the  underlying  sentiment  by  which  supplies 
were  withheld. 

The  New  York  colony,  though  more  remote  fro  in  tho  scene, 
voted  five  thousand  pounds. 

With  the  advice  of  the  British  Secretary  of  State,  Governor 
Dinwiddle  now  determined  to  take  decisive  steps  to  secure  a 
foothold  on  the  Ohio  by  building  a  fort  at  the  fork  where  Pitts- 
burgh now  stands. 

It  was  proposed  to  raise  two  •  companies  for  this  purpose,  as 
volunteers,  one  of  which  was  to  be  raised  by  Washington,  and 
the  other  by  a  Mr.  Trent,  a  noted  frontier  ranger. 

In  the  spring  of  1754,  the  French  line  from  Presque  Isle  to  the 
mouth  of  Le  PcBuf  Creek  (French  Creek)  became  a  bustling  thor- 
oughfare, along  which  French  scouts  with  their  tawny  allies  were 
constantly  passing.  Ft.  Venango  was  finished  at  the  confluence 
of  this  creek  with  the  Allegheny  river  earl}'  in  Aju-il ;  but  while 
these  forest  wilds  gleamed  with  the  glitter  of  French  bayonets 


^2  The  English  Driven  Away  from  the  Ohio. 

and  echoed  with  war-whoops,  a  quieter  and  more  enduring  force 
•was  gathering  to  the  rescue,  from  the  Virginia  frontier. 

Already  the  Ohio  Company  had  sent  a  number  of  men  to 
make  a  fort  and  settlement  at  the  fork,  among  whom  were  a  few 
families. 

This  advance,  consisting  of  a  caravan  of  forty-one  men  and 
seventeen  horses,  loaded  to  their  utmost  capacity,  had  been  met  by 
Washington  on  his  return.  Meanwhile,  the  military  spii  it  gath- 
ered force  as  the  issue  appeared  to  approach  a  crisis,  and  it  was 
determined  to  raise  six  companies  instead  of  two,  and  to  give 
the  chief  command  to  Joshua  Fry,  an  able  officer,  while  Wash- 
ington was  to  liold  the  second. 

Thirty  cannon  and  eighty  ban  els  of  gunpowder  had  been  re- 
ceived from  the  king  of  England,  for  the  defense  of  western 
forts.  All  haste  was  now  made  to  send  forward  the  forces  in 
time  to  succor  the  little  band  who  had  gone  before  them,  under 
Trent;  but  the  heavy  roads  of  spring  and  the  Allegheny  moun- 
tains, were  barriers  which  bade  dehaiice  to  speed ;  and,  while 
these  preparations  were  on  foot,  a  heavy  French  force,  under 
Contrecoeur,  glided  down  French  Creek  and  the  Allegheny  riv- 
er, arriving  at  the  strategic  spot  on  the  17th  of  April. 

He.o  he  found  the  Virginians  scarring  the  leaf  clad  soil  with 
the  foundations  for  a  fort.  Trent  had  returned  east  to  hurry 
forward  reinforcements,  and  ensign  Ward  stood  in  his  place. 
The  little  band  obeyed  Contrecoeur's  summons  to  leave,  backed 
up  as  it  was  by  nearly  a  thousand  bayonets.  The  men  gathered 
up  their  camp  equipage,  during  which  preparation  for  their  re- 
treat Ward  took  sup])er  with  the  French  commander,  by  special 
invitation.  This  over,  the  Virginians  soon  buried  them- 
selves in  the  forest  depths,  taking  their  course  up  the  banks  of 
the  Monongahela,  an  '<  left  the  French  masters  of  the  situation. 
The  latter  immediately  commenced  the  erectiuu  of  a  fort,  which 
they  named  Duquesne,  in  honor  of  the  Governor  of  Canada. 

Washington  was  now  at  the  head  of  a  small  band  of  back- 
woodsmen, armed  with  axes,  about  to  hew  a  path  through  the 
forest  for  the  artillery  to  follow.  The  news  of  the  surrender  of 
Ward's  company  reached  him  at  Wills  Creek.  Continuing  to 
press  forward,  he  reached  Great  Meadows,  a  place  about  lifty 
miles  oast  of  the  new  French  fort  at  the  fork,  on  the  'iTt^"  of 
May. 

A  few  miles  west  of  this  place,  Mr.  Gist  had  settled,  the  ^  .ar 
before,  with  the  intention  of  making  it  a  permanent  liome,  and 
still  maintained  his  position  amidst  the  clamors  of  impendinj? 
war.  Hearing  of  the  arrival  of  Washington,  he  visited  his  cauij. 
and  gave  him  information  of  a  body  of  French  under  Jumon- 
ville,  stationed  on  the  waters  of  Ked  Sajulstone  Creek,  hard  by- 

Half-King,  the  still  faithful  old  Iroquois  chief,  at  tbw  head  of 


Surrender  of  Ft.  Necessity.  S3 

a  few  braves,  also  came  and  offered  tlieir  services  to  "Washing- 
ton. He  was  now  far  advanced  into  the  wilds,  with  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains  between  him  and  any  hope  of  reinforcements 
or  subsistence,  with  an  enemy  four  times  outnumbering  his  force 
ready  to  attack  liim  ;  but  lie  hesitated  not  to  commence  tiie  at- 
tack. Half-King  led  the  way,  and  he  surprised  Jumonville.  un- 
der cover  of  night,  and  took  twenty-one  prisoners  after  killing 
ten  men,  among  whom  was  Jumonville  hims  ilf.  Washington 
lost  one  man  killed. 

Aj  might  be  supposed,  this  opening  of  hostilities  inflamed  the 
resentment  of  the  French  to  the  last  degree,  as  the  first  acts  of 
positive  hostilities  always  are  made  the  most  of  to  tone  up  the 
vindictive  spirit  of  the  soldiery  on  both  sides,  in  any  impending 
war.     The  French  called  the  killing  of  Jumonville  assassination. 

Washington  now  held  his  advanced  position,  contenting  him- 
self with  watching  the  movementii  of  the  French,  till  the  28tli 
of  Jut)e.  At  this  time,  he  was  in  Gist's  house,  and  learning  that 
a  heavy  French  force  were  advancing  against  him,  he  commenc- 
ed a  retreat.  Having  reached  Great  Meadows,  July  1st,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  scarcity-  of  provisions,  he  concluded  to  intrench 
himself  and  await  an  attack.  On  the  3d,  the  advance  of  the 
French  were  seen  at  11  o'clock  a.  m.,  nine  hundred  strong. 

The  positions  of  the  assailants  were  quickly  taken,  and  a  de- 
structive tire  was  opened  upon  Ft.  Necessity  (the  name  Washing- 
ton had  given  his  hastily-built  stockade).  The  lire  was  returned 
with  all  the  obstinate  courage  of  backwoodsmen,  but  their  be- 
siegers were  beyond  its  reacli,  and  the  only  efl^ect  it  produced 
was  to  win  the  admiration  of  the  foe. 

At  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  while  a  heavy  rain  was  pouring 
down,  the  tiring  ceased,  and  a  signal  for  a  parley  was  sent  to 
the  beleaguered  camp  from  De  Villiers,  the  Irench  commander. 
Many  of  Washington's  men  were  wounded  and  he  was  out  of 
j)rovi8ions.  Surrender  was  therefore  his  only  recourse  left, 
Tiie  terms  were  generous  and  svorthy  the  gallantry  of  a  French 
captain.*  AVashington  was  allowed  to  depart  with  drums  beat- 
ing, with  the  honors  of  war,  taking  everything  with  them  exce))! 
the  artillery.  He  was  to  give  up  the  pnsoners  taken  May  28th, 
and  no  more  fortifications  were  to  be  erected  west  of  the  moun- 
tains. Captain  Jacob  Van  J3raum  and  Kobert  Stobo  were  to  be 
given  up  to  the  French,  as  hostages  to  secure  the  fulfillment  of 
the  conditions.  The  can>paign  had  miscarried  and  the  French 
were  now  in  Iieavy  force  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Ohio. 

On  the  4th  of  July  succeeding,  1754,  another  convention  was 


•  De  Villiers,  who  was  brot;  -r  of  the  slain  Jumonville,  said  that,  on  beholding 
the  wretched  condition  of  W'ah..  'oa's  men,  after  so  desperate  a  defence,  pity 
ri>««Tm»d  his  feelincs  of  resfiitment. 


84  Peace  Proposals  fiom  France. 

called  at  Albany,  and  commissioners  from  each  of  the  thirteeu 
colonies  agreed  among  themselves  on  a  general  plan  of  defence, 
the  Connecticut  colony  alone  dissenting.  Eenjamin  Franklin 
was  the  moving  spirit  of  this  convention,  and  propo>ed  to  curry 
the  war  into  tlie  interior  with  a  vig(in)ns  hand.  But  notliing 
could  be  done  to  rescue  the  country  occupied  by  the  French  till 
the  mother  country  hud  declared  her  policy,  by  substantial  aid 
to  help  l)eat  back  the  French. 

Conscious  that  this  would  be  done  hi  season  for  the  next  year's 
campaign,  Gov.  Dinwiddle  took  no  immediate  steps  to  recover 
tbe  lost  ground  on  the  Ohio,  and,  as  a  prudential  measure  to 
prevent  rivcilry  as  to  rank  among  the  officers  already  commis- 
sioned, when  new  volunteers  should  enlist,  he  reorganized  the 
companies  in  service,  so  as  to  leave  no  officer  in  command  of  a 
higher  rank  than  captain.  Washington  now  sent  in  his  resigna- 
tion and  returned  to  his  home  at  Mount  Yernon. 

The  Ohio  frontier  was  now  quiet.  The  Assembly  of  Pennsyl- 
vania were  still  firm  in  their  policy  of  peace,  but  in  the  New 
England  and  Xew  York  colonies,  a  plan  was  proposed  to  seize 
upon  Crown  P(jint,  but  not  attempted  ;  but  the  line  of  Kenne- 
bec, east  of  which  was  the  French  settlement  of  Acadia,  was 
fortified. 

No  declaration  of  war  had  yet  been  made.  On  the  contrary, 
the  English  and  French  courts  were,  to  all  outward  appearances, 
on  the  most  iriendl}'  terms;  but  both  countries  were  preparing 
for  war. 

January,  1755,  opened  with  peace  proposals  from  France,  by 
which  she  offered,  as  an  ultimatum,  that  the  French  should  re- 
tire west  of  the  Ohio  and  the  English  east  of  the  AlK-ghenies. 

This  ofler  was  considered  by  England  till  the  7th  of  March, 
when  she  agreed  to  accept  it  on  condition  that  the  French 
would  destroy  all  their  forts  on  the  Ohio  and  its  branches.  The 
French,  after  twenty  days,  refused  to  do  tliis.*  But  while  the 
fruitless  negotiations  were  pendijig,  both  sides  were  sending  sol- 
diers to  America. 

•  Plain  Facts,  p.  52. 


CHAPTER  V. 

General  Braddock  arrives  in  America — Plan  of  the  I'lrst  Cam- 
paign— Baron  Dieskau  reaches  Canada — Braddoch  marches 
against  Ft.  Duquesne — His  Defeat — Expedition  to  Acadia 
— Shirley  starts  to  take  Ft.  Niagara — Johnson!'s  Campaign 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  George — Defeat  of  Dieskau — Lord 
Loudon  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  English  for- 
ces—  Gen.  Montcalm  appointed  to  command  the  F'r en ch  forces 
— English  and  French  Folicij  and  Diplomacy — Montcalm 
takes  Oswego — London'' s  Expedition  starts  to  attack  Louis- 
burg — Ft.  William  Henry  taken  by  Montcalm — London  re- 
called and  Gen.  Abercromhie  put  in  his  place — Loui^burg 
taken  by  Admiral  Boscaxo en — Gen.  Abercromhie  attacks  Ti- 
conderoga — Gen.  Bradstreet  takes  Ft.  Frontenac — Gen, 
Forbes'  Expedition  against  Ft.  Duquesne — Mission  of  Chr'is- 
iian  Frederic  Dost — Ft.  Duquesne  Evacuated  and.  taken  pos- 
sessio7i  of  by  Forbes — Gen.  Abercrouibie  recalled  and  Gen. 
Amherst  put  in  his  p)lace — Ft.  Niagara  taken  by  Gen.  John- 
s<rn — Ticonderoga  and  Crow^^  Point  Evacuated — Quebec  ta- 
ken by  Gen.  ^\\)lfe — Canada  and  the  West  given  up  to  the 
English. 

The  spring  of  1755  opened  willi  warlike  preparations  on  a 
grand  scale.  Cieii.  Bradddck  had  landed  in  Viri^jinia  on  the  20th 
of  February  M'ith  two  regiments,  numbering  5()(i  cac-li.  Alex- 
andria was  his  headquarters,  and  here  gathered  the  leading  mil- 
itary spirits  of  tlie  various  colnnjcs,  prominent  ampni;  whom 
wer(!  Dinwiddle  ot  Virginia.  Shirley  of  Massuchu>etts.  Johnson 
of  New  York  (aiterward  Sir  William  J(^hn!^on),  and  Ijenjamin 
Fraidciin  of  Pennsyivania.  The  approaching  cam])aigu  was  soon 
pliumed  out. 

The  tirst  and  most  important  thing  to  be  dune  was  t<>  take  Ft. 
Du(]ue.sne,  Tiiis  work  Braddock  assigned  to  himself.  Gen. 
Johnson  was  to  attack  the  French  po^ts  on  Lake  ('liam plain,  and 
to  (ion.  Shirley  was  charged  the  reduction  of  Ft.  Ningara.  at  thb 
outlet  ot  Niagara  river,  on  Lake  Ontario,  while  Gen.  Monckton 
was  to  invade  French  Acadia,  in  Nova  Scotia.  The  three  latter 
expeditions  were  to  be   composed  of  piovincial  troops,  except  a 


86      _  Braddock  Crosses  the  Xllegkeniea. 

few  British  marines  destined  to  co-operate  with  the   land  forces 
in  the  invasion  of  Acadia. 

The  French  had  not  been  tardy  in  preparations  for  the  war. 
Early  in  the  spring,  their  forces,  under  command  of  Baron  Dies- 
kau,  reached  Canada,  and  began  to  lay  plans  to  defend  the  far- 
off  wilderness  posts  which  guarded  the  portals  to  New  France. 

Braddock  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  tactician  in  English 
warfare,  but  his  machine-like  way  of  manoeuvring  armies,  in  Eu- 
rope proved  ineffectual  in  the  scouting  style  of  warfare  which 
the  savages  of  America  had  long  since  taught  both  the  French 
and  the  Anglo  frontierers. 

At  the  first  onset  his  captiousness  was  aroused  by  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  getting  transportation  for  the  army,  and,  had 
not  Benjamin  Franklin  come  to  the  rescue,  he  might  not  have 
been  able  to  begin  his  march  till  midsummer.  The  place  of  ren- 
dezvous was  the  present  site  of  Cumberland,  where  his  army 
was  gathered  about  the  middle  of  May.  Besides  his  own  regi- 
ments, he  was  reinforced  by  two  independent  companies  from 
New  York,  under  command  of  Capt.  Gates — the  destined  hero 
of  Saratega — and  ihe  Virginia  regiments  originally  under  com- 
mand of  Joshua  Fry  (now  deceased).  Washington,  who  had 
retired  to  private  life  at  the  close  of  the  campaign  of  the  previous 
year,  was  invited  to  take  a  position  on  his  staff",  and  accepted  it, 
under  the  title  of  c<  lone].* 

They  crossed  tlie  Alleghenies  by  the  road  which  the  Ohio 
Company  had  made  two  years  before,  and  on  the  Sth  of  July 
reached  the  Monongahela,  at  a  point  but  fifteen  miles  from  Ft. 
Duquesne.  This  was  the  advance  of  the  main  body,  consisting 
of  the  two  English  regiments  and  a  part  of  the  Virginia  forces, 
the  lesser  part  of  the  army  following  after,  by  slow  marciies, 
with  the  heavy  baggage,  under  command  of  Col.  Dunbar. 

Contreeoeur,  the  commander  of  Ft.  Duquesne,  had  been  ap- 
prised of  his  approach,  by  means  of  his  Indian  scouts,  and, 
alarmed  at  the  formidable  appearance  and  number  of  the  inva- 
ders, thought  only  of  flight,  and  for  tliat  purpose  ordered  out 
the  boats,  in  readiness  to  descend  the  Ohio  river.  But,  during 
this  trepidation,  a  bold  counselor  came  to  his  relief,  named  Beau- 
jeu,f  asking  consent  to  waylay  the  English  while  yet  in  the 
thickets  of  the  Monongahela.  It  was  granted  ;  but  to  induce 
the  Indians  to   enlist  in  the   desperate   enteiprise   required  con- 


♦  Said  Beniamin  Franklin  to  Braddock,  on  the  eve  of  his  march,  ''The  only 
danger  I  apprehend,  of  obstruction  to  your  march,  is  from  the  ambuscades  of  the 
Indians."  "He  smiled  at  my  ignorance,"  continued  Franklin,  '*  and  replied: 
'  These  savages  may  indeed  be  a  formidable  enemy  to  your  raw  militia,  but  upon 
the  king's  regular  troops,  sir,  it  is  impossible  ihey  should  make  an  impressioti.* " 
— Antobiography  of  Franklin. 

*  Vephew  to  him  who,  in  1685,  had  deserted  La  Salie  on  the  const  of  Texas. 


His  Defeat.  87 

summate  skill  in  savage  war  practice.  At  first  they  flatly  refus- 
ed, but  appealing  to  their  chivalry  by  saying  he  would  go  alone, 
they  all  followed  him  with  a  yell  of  admiration  that  toned  up 
their  confidence  to  the  required  pitch. 

Taking  their  course  up  the  Monongahela,  they  soon  drew  near 
the  locaUty  of  the  destined  ambuscade,  when,  with  noiseless 
footstep,  each  proceeded  to  his  separate  place  of  concealment 
beside  the  road  over  which  Braddock  was  soon  to  pass.  At  one 
o'clock,  his  advance,  led  by  Col.  Gage,  (afterward  Gen.  Gage, 
of  Boston  memory),  came  within  close  range,  when  the  silence 
of  the  forest  was  broken  \>y  a  murderous  tire  into  his  ranks.  It 
vas  returned  with  the  usual  courage  of  British  soldiers,  and  not 
vithout  efi\3ct,  for  Beaujeu  was  killed  on  the  spot.  Dumas,  the 
.econd  in  command,  now  took  his  place.  A  tempest  of  bullets 
aiet  the  English  in  front  and  flank.  Gage  fell  back,  and  although 
Sraddock,  with  the  courage  of  a  lion,  dashed  to  the  front,  com- 
riianding  order,  confusion  was  inevitable.  Three  horses  were 
ishot  under  him  in  this  fruitless  labor.  No  attempt  was  made  by 
him  to  charge  into  the  thicket  which  concealed  the  foe,  but 
Washington,  at  the  head  of  a  few  of  his  backwoods  comrades, 
left  their  ranks  and  fought  from  covert  positions,  till  a  panic  had 
siezed  upon  the  English  soldiers,  and  they  fled  in  confusion. 

Here  young  Washington  won  his  first  laurels.  Ever  in  the 
front,  he  had  two  horses  shot  under  him  and  some  shots  through 
his  clothes,  and  at  last  covered  the  retreat  of  the  British  with 
admirable  skill.  Braddock  was  mortally  wounded ;  36  British 
oflicers  were  killed  and  37  wounded,  among  whom  was  Col. 
Gage;  715  privates  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  French  and 
Indian  loss,  all  told,  was  less  than  50.  The  fugitives  made  all 
haste  to  Punbar's  camp,  where  a  day  of  turmoil  was  spent  in 
arranging  fvMiieir  long  retreat.  The  bag^rage  was  set  fire  to, 
after  reserving  provisions  enough  to  lasst  them  on  their  way  back, 
and  the  dit^comtitted  f^oldiers  resumed  their  retreat  to  Virginia, 
there  to  tell  the  tale  of  their  humiliation. 

While  this  disastrous  attempt  to  wrest  the  portals  to  the  West 
from  the  French  was  in  progress,  far  in  the  East,  on  the  bleak 
coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  New  England  plow-boj'S  were  striking 
a  fatal  blow  against  the  French  possessions  of  Acadia.  This 
settlement  had  been  nuide  in  1304,  three  years  before  that  of 
.laniestovvn.  In  1GI3,  it  had  been  invaded  by  Argall,  of  the 
Jamestown  colony,  and,  from  that  day  forward,  an  almost  un- 
ceasing border  warfare  had  existed  between  the  En'Wish  colonists 
and  the  Acadians,  to  detail  which  would  fill  a  volume.  The 
fleet  entrusted  with  this  expedi.ion  sailed  from  Boston  on  the 
20th  of  May,  under  the  general  command  of  Monckton,  as  pro- 
posed ;  but  the  proviiu  ials,  L^OOO  in  number,  designed  as  land 
tbrcea.  had  been  raised  by  John  Winslow,  of  Massachusetts,  and 


88  The  Acadians  Transjported. 

insisted  on  being  led  by  him,  which  request  was  grantedby  Gov. 
Shirley. 

Tlie  whole  country  belonged  to  the  English  by  treaty  stipula- 
tions, except  Cape  Jireton  island,  but  the  Acadians  had  erected 
several  forts  within  its  boundaries,  under  the  impression  that  it 
would  ultimately  fall  into  the  lap  of  France.  These  forts  were 
easily  taken  by  the  invaders,  and  Acadia  became  a  conquered 
province.  Now  came  the  perplexing  question,  what  to  do  with 
the  inliabitants.  Says  Haliburton,  "They  were  not  British  sub- 
jects, inasmuch  as  they  had  refused  to  take  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance, and  therefore  could  scarcely  be  considered  rebels. 
They  were  not  prisoners  of  war,  because  they  had  bien  suflferod 
for  nearly  half  a  cenutry  to  retain  their  possessions,  and  their 
oeutrality  hud  been  accepted  in  lieu  of  their  allegiance."  With 
all,  however,  they  were  an  oflense  to  the  New  Ensrlanders. 
Their  civilization  had  been  made  of  more  elastic  materials  than 
the  tight-twisted  woof  of  Puritanism.  Indeed,  no  great  chasm 
need  be  bridged  over  between  them  and  their  red  allies  the  In- 
dians, whom  they  had  armed  to  light  the  English  colonists,  to 
bring  them  together  on  a  plane  of  equality.  The  colonists  were 
full  of  bitterness  against  them  on  account  of  old  scores,  and  now 
their  day  of  vengeance  had  come.  A  proclamation  was  issued 
for  them  to  assemble  in  their  churches — men,  women,  and  child- 
ren. The  mandate  was  obeyed.  A  solid  phalanx  of  soldiers 
environed  them,  and  thence  they  were  marched  between  two 
rows  of  fixed  bayonets  on  board  the  English  transports.  The 
sails  were  spread,  and  the  last  sight  of  their  evergreen  shores 
soon  vanished  forjver  from  their  view,  amid  the  smoke  of  their 
burning  houses.  The  number  thus  taken  was  7000.  They  were 
distributed  among  the  English  colonists,  where  most  of  them 
died  from  disease,  but  the  last  remnant  of  them,  assisted  by  the 
Quakers,  crossed  i- .a  Alleghenies  after  the  war  was  over,  and 
floated  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississi|)pi  rivers  on  barges,  to  the 
French  settlen.ents  of  New  Orleans.  Never  were  pilgrims 
treated  with  more  compassion  than  they  were  by  the  generous 
inhabitants  of  the  place.  A  tract  of  land  was  given  them  on 
the  river  bank,  on  which  they  settled,  and  some  of  their  descend- 
ants still  live  there.*  Whatever  may  be  the  apology  for  this 
harsh  decree,  the  maxim  follows  that — it  is  dangerous  to  be  neu- 
tral. 

As  might  be  supposed,  the  laurels  earned  by  this  invasion, 
tarnished  as  they  were  by  its  closing  scenes,  Imd  no  weight  in 
the  question  at  issue.  The  French  held  the  West  and  every  av- 
enue to  it  v,'ith  a  firm  grip. 

After  the  Acadian   expedition  had  got  under  way.  Gen,  Shir- 

*  Charlevoix,  Kaynal,  and  Haliburton,  are  the  authorities  from  which  this  ar- 
count  is  taken. 


Dleskau  Marches  against  Johnson.  89 

ley,  in  accordance  vith  the  original  design  of  Braddoek,  set 
himself  about  raising  new  troops  to  operate  against  Ft.  Niagara. 
It  was  late  in  the  season  before  his  army  was  ready  to  start,  and 
by  tlie  time  tiiey  had  made  their  way  up  the  Mohawk  valley  and 
across  the  wilds  to  the  mouth  of  the  Oswego  river,  it  was  late  in 
the  autumn.  His  route  from  this  point  was  to  be  taken  along 
the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  by  whale  boats,  but  the 
lake  was  too  boisterous  for  this.  Here  he  waited  thirteen  days  for 
the  storm  to  abate,  during  which  time  his  Indian  allies,  on  whom 
he  had'placed  great  dependence  for  success,  deserted,  and  the 
lake  was  yet  too  rough  for  safe  navigation.  The  season  was  now 
so  far  advanced  that  he  wisely  deemed  "it  imprudent  to  advance 
farther  on  a  mission  so  dangerous,  especially  as  the  French  and 
Indians  were  so  elated  with  their  victory  over  Braddoek,  that  a 
countless  host  of  savages  v.  ould  rail v  around  their  standard  at 
^Niagara. 

Before  returning,  he  planned  the  construction  of  two  forts  to 
be  erected  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  left  a  part  of  his  com- 
mand, under  Gen.  Mercer,  to  build  and  garrison  them. 

"We  come  now  to  the  last  of  tl.\e  four  expeditions  planned  for 
the  first  year's  campaign  in  the  war,  of  which  Gen.  Johnson 
]iad  the  charge. 

At  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Champlain,  a  narrow  but 
deep  and  almost  currentless  strait  invites  the  boatman  along  its 
rugged  curves,  till  he  finds  himself,  after  a  few  miles  rowing,  on 
the  shining  waters  of  Lake  George.  Its  fern-clad  headlands, 
now  the  study  of  landscape  sketchers  and  the  inspiration  of  po- 
ets, have  in  times  past  been  slippery  with  human  blood,  and 
€very  cove  indenting  its  shore  has  been  the  hiding-place  of  war 
parties  crouching  for  their  prey.  For  a  century,  the  war-whoop, 
the  crack  of  the  rifle,  and  the  groan  of  the  victim,  were  the  oft- 
repeated  sounds  that  rung  from  shore  to  shore  over  its  placid 
waters.  At  the  head  ot  this  lake  Gen.  Johnson's  army  lay  en- 
camped, leisurely  nuiking  preparations  to  attack  Crown  Point, 
on  the  west  bunk  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Earon  Dieskau  had  already  f  .med  a  plan  to  mn':e  a  descent 
on  Oswego,  but.  learning  of  Johnson's  intentions,  he  clian<i:ed 
this  plan  and  made  a  hasty  march  from  the  waters  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain, through  the  forests  which  environ  its  south-eastern  banks, 
with  a  view  of  surprising  him.  On  the  7tl  of  September,  news 
came  to  Johnson  that  the  French  were  approachiriir  the  fort 
wliere  Col.  Blanchard  lay  encamped  with  his  New  Hampshire 
niilitii,  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  about  thirty  miles  distant. 
The  anxious  hours  wore  on  till  midnight,  when  a  message  came  " 
in  breathless  haste,  and  informed  Johnson  that  Dieskau  was  ad- 
vancing upon  his  camp  instead  of  Blanchard's.  A  council  of 
war  was  immediately  held,  and  it  was  determined  to  send  a  forco 


90  His  Defeat. 

of  1200  men,  among  whom  were  200  Iroquois  Indians,  to  meet 
him  in  the  forests  and  cheek  his  advance,  till  fortifications  could 
be  erected.  Early  the  next  morning  they  took  up  their  march, 
under  Col.  Williams,  leader  of  the  provincials,  and  Hendricks, 
chief  of  the  Mohawks,  leader  of  the  Indians.  An  hour  passed, 
and  the  sound  of  fire-arms,  mufiled  through  the  forest  foliage, 
came  to  the  ears  of  Johnson  and  his  men.  It  suddenly  grew 
louder,  which  showed  that  the  French  were  driving  this  advance 
before  them.  Another  force,  of  300  men,  were  sent  to  cover 
their  retreat.  At  11  o'clock,  the  defeated  provincir'is  began  to 
return  and  gather  within  the  frail  defenses  of  Johnson's  camp. 
Unfortunately,  they  had  been  waylaid,  and  many  of  their  num- 
ber killed  at  the  first  fire  of  the  ambushed  enemy.  But,  not 
losing  their  discretion,  they  sent  back  many  a  fatal  siiot  into  the 
ranks  of  their  pursuers,  as  they  fell  back.  The  Indians,  in  par- 
ticular, had  distinguished  themselves.  Forty  of  their  number 
had  been  slain,  among  whom  was  Hendricks,  their  distinguished 
chief.     Col.  Williams  was  also  among  the  killed. 

Except  about  300  Indians,  the  whole  of  Johnson's  army  was 
made  up  of  troops  from  the  New  England  States  and  the  State 
of  New  York,  quite  unaccustomed  to  the  dexterous  art  of  fight- 
ing, while  Dieskau's  command  was  composed  of  French  regulars, 
disciplined  into  UiCasured  evolutions  by  service  (m  the  Continent. 
Added  to  these,  also,  was  the  usual  complement  of  Canadian 
Indians,  whose  war-whoop  had  often  echoed  through  the  forests 
of  Canada  to  repel  Iroquois  invasion,  or  startled  the  lonesome 
borderers  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  New  York, 
on  scalping  excursions.  Before  12  o'clock,  the  gleam  of  French 
bayonets  threw  its  hostile  glare  into  the  open  spot  in  the  forest 
where  Ft.  Henry  stood,  bo  little  time  hud  been  given  for  its 
construction,  that  its  walls,  which  were  made  of  logs,  were 
scarce  three  feet  high;  and,  to  accommodate  themselves  to  these 
incomplete  defenses,  the  whole  army  prostrated  themselves  on 
the  ground,  none  of  them  daring  to  stand  erect  lest  he  should 
be  a  target  for  French  bullets. 

Dieskau  approached  the  place  with  a  caution  unusual  to  the 
dash  of  Frenchmen,  and  opened  fire  on  it  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance. This  style  of  attack  was  well  suited  to  the  undisciplined 
soldiers  of  Johnson,  inasmuch  as  it  gave  them  time  to  tone  up 
their  courage.  The  attack  was  kept  up  till  4  o'cIock,  with  severe 
loss  to  the  French  and  but  trifling  to  the  besieged.  Diesisau's 
Indians  had  been  startled  from  their  lurking  places  behind  such 
trees  as  still  remained  within  range  of  the  fort,  by  some  "  ell- 
directed  cannon  shots,  and  the  fire  of  the  French  was  weaken- 
ing. At  this  juncture,  Johnson's  men  rose  to  their  feet,  and 
dashed  against  the  French  with  an  impetuosity  which  would  do 
honor  to  veterans.     The  enemv  fled  in  broken  ranks,  and  Dies- 


Loudon  Appointed  Commander-in-Chief.  91 

kan  was  severely  wounded  in  the  vain  attempt  to  rally  them. 
Unable  to  follow  his  defeated  soldiers,  he  was  taken  a  pris- 
oner into  the  American  camp.  Johnson  had  also  been  wounded 
painfully,  but  not  dangerously,  and,  while  his  wound  was  being 
dressed,  Dieskau  was  brought  into  his  presence.  The  shadows- 
of  evening  were  lengthening  as  the  French  fled  into  the  forest 
by  the  way  they  had  come.  Johnson's  men  did  not  follow  them, 
and  the  retreaters  traveled  along  the  well-known  way  toward  the 
banks  of  Wood  Creek,  where  they  were  to  embark  for  Lake 
Chainplain  and  return  to  (Canada. 

While  the  battle  at  Ft.  Henry  was  going  on,  a  small  band  of 
scouts,  consisting  of  80  men  from  Col.  Blanchard's  New  Hamp- 
shire regiment  and  40  men  from  the  !N^e\v  York  regiment,,  left 
Ft.  Edwards  and  followed  the  track  of  the  French  army,  as  it 
had  advanced  in  the  morning  toward  Ft.  Henrv.  At  4  o'clock 
the  scouts  came  upon  a  camp  in  the  forest,  where  the  stores  of 
the  French  army  had  been  left  under  a  small  guard.  These  were 
easily  dispersed,  and  the  camp  stores  taken.  Flushed  with  this 
success,  the  scouts  now  determined  to  meet  the  entire  French 
army  on  their  retreat,  and  accordingly  ambushed  themselves  in 
their  path.  In  the  gray  of  the  evening,  the  retreating  French- 
men came  up,  but  they  were  in  no  condition  to  renew  a  battle. 
They  had  been  under  lire  since  morning,  while  their  new  enemy 
was  fresh,  although  but  a  handful,  and  they  sent  from  their  cov- 
ert a  storm  of  bullets  into  tlie  ranks  of  the  already  defeated  fu- 
gitives, as  they  painfully  toiled  along  the  treacherous  forest  path, 
over  which  they  had  passed  in  the  morning  in  confident  zeal. 
A  large  number  of  the  jaded  Frenchmen  were  killed  in  the  noc- 
turnal light,  and  their  whole  army  fled  in  the  utmost  confusion. 
The  Americans  lost  but  six  men.*  The  number  engaged  in  the 
three  battles  were  about  2000  on  each  side.  The  loss  of  the 
Americans  was  about  300,  and  that  of  the  French  double  that 
number.f  This  brilliant  feat  of  arms,  closed  the  campaign  of 
1755,  which  had  opened  with  the  appalling  defeat  of  Eraddock 
on  the  Monongahela. 

While  the  provincial  troops  were  winning  the  first  laurels  of  the 
war,  the  shattered  remnant  of  Braddock's  army,  iiistead  of  re- 
maining near  the  frontier  to  hold  the  Indians  in  check,  had  gone 
into  winter  quarters  in  Philadelphia,  greatly  to  the  disgust  of  the 
border  settlers  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  who  were  now  ex- 
posed to  the  savage  raiders,  whose  council-fires  blazed  under  the 
French  flag  in  the  Ohio  country. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1756,  Lord  Loudon  was  appointed  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia  and  commander-in-chief  of  all  the  English  and 


♦Belknap's  History  of  New  Hampshire. 

t  Johnson  was  baroneted  and  further  rewarded  with  a  gift  of  £5000  by  the  Eng- 
ish  court.     He  was  now  Sir  William  Johnson. 


"92  Contingent  Dljplomacy. 

provincial  forces  in  America.  Gen.  Abercrombie  was  appointed 
second  in  command.  He  arrived  in  America  on  the  25th  of 
•Time,  bringing  two  regiments  with  him,  and  made  his  headquar- 
ters at  Albany,  where  a  respectable  force  of  provincials  from 
New  York  and  the  New  England  States  were  ready  for  his  ser- 
vice. Loudon  did  not  arrive  till  the  29tli  of  the  succeeding 
month. 

Gen.  Montcalm  had  been  appointed  to  take  the  chief  command 
of  the  French  forces,  and  had  already  arrived  in  the  St.  Lawrence 
with  fresh  recruits  for  the  approaching  campaign. 

Incredible  as  it  may  seem,  no  declaration  of  war  had  yet  been 
made  by  either  England  or  France,  but  both  nations  had  been 
plying  their  seductive  arts  of  diplomacy,  never  so  sweetly,  to 
secure  alliance.  France  had  positive  purposes  at  which  she  aim- 
ed, the  chief  one  of  v/hich  was  to  preserve  her  American  pos- 
sessions, and  the  means  to  be  used  in  the  achievement  of  this 
end  were  delinitely  settled  upon,  which,  in  brief,  were  to  attack 
the  allies  of  England  on  the  Continent,  by  which  diversion  New 
France  in  America  was  to  be  made  invulnerable  against  her 
rival,  whose  strength  must  be  largely  occupied  on  the  detensive 
at  home. 

The  ultimatum  of  England  was  not  less  clearly  defined  than 
that  of  France,  but  the  means  by  which  it  was  to  be  brought 
about  were  more  complicated.  The  tenacity  with  which  the 
American  colonists  had  clung  to  their  political  rights  at  the  Al- 
bany convention  of  1754,  as  well  as  the  able  statesmanship  of 
the  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and  Pennsylvania  Assemblies, 
not  always  in  harmony  with  the  crown,  had  awakened  a  sense 
of  caution  in  the  English  court,  in  their  dealings  with  their 
trans- Atlantic  children,  and  the  question  came  to  the  surface 
whether  it  was  better  to  drive  France  entirely  out  of  America, 
or  allow  her  to  retain  enough  there  to  become  a  rival  to  the  Eng- 
lish colonists,  and  thereby  insure  tlieir  loyalty  through  their  ob- 
ligations for  assistance  in  defending  themselves  from  the  French. 
King  George  II.  shared  these  apprehensions,  while  William  Pitt 
had  always  been  in  favor  of  pushing  the  war  in  America  without 
fear  of  adverse  consequences. 

England  and  Russia  had  long  been  friends,  and,  as  soon  as 
war  with  France  appeared  inevitable,  she  made  a  treaty  with  the 
empress  of  Russia,  by  the  conditions  of  which  Hanover  (Eng- 
land's ally)  was  to  be  protected  by  Russian  troops  in  the  event 
of  a  European  war,  for  which  service  England  was  to  pay  her. 
This  treaty  bore  date  of  September  13th,  1755.  A  few  months 
later,  both  France  and  Prussia  manifested  dispositions  to  invade 
portions  of  Germany,  the  French  incentive  to  which  was  to  keep 
England  busy  at  home,  while  she  (France)  made  her  Anurican 
possessions  secure,  as  already  stated.     The  Prussian  incentive, 


Oswego  Taken.  '^^ 

one  liistorian  was  uncharitable  enough  to  say,  was  Frederic's^ 
ambition  to  see  his  name  lieralded  in  the  gazettes.*  Russia  was 
now  alarmed  lest  she  might  be  attacked  by  Prursia,  and.  con- 
scious of  her  inability  to  fulfill  her  treaty  stipulations  with  Eng- 
land as  to  the  protection  of  Hanover,  she  applied  to  France  for 
the  preservation  of  the  neutrality  of  that  electorate.  These  ac- 
cumulating evidences  of  the  rising  power  of  Frederic  stimulated 
England  to  mal<e  an  alliance  with  him,  wliich  was  done  January 
16th,  1756,  although  by  this  treaty  the  interests  of  Eu.-.sia._  as 
well  as  those  of  Hanover,  were  left  unprotected. f  The  ei^-'Ct 
was  to  unite  the  interests  of  Russia  with  France,  and  also  those 
of  Austria  with  the  same  power,  although  the  two  had  long  been 
euemies. 

All  tliis  plotting  and  counter-])lotting,  which,  by  a  paradoxi- 
cal combination,  transposed  the  friendships  and  enmities  of  the 
great  powers  of  Europe,  grew  out  of  the  issue  between  England 
and  France  as  to  which  should  take  possession  of  the  Upper 
Ohio  country,  although  the  fortunes  of  war  ultimately  brought 
into  question  the  patent  to  the  title  of  Canada  itself.  It  began 
in  a  land  speculation  of  the  Ohio  Company,  whose  regal  title  to 
lands  on  the  Ohio  river  was  not  honored  by  the  French  court. 

England  was  the  first  to  throw  oil  the  plastic  but  already 
blood-stained  shield  of  diplomacy  and  make  an  open  declaration 
of  war,  which  she  did  on  the  iSth  of  May,  1756.  France  re- 
torted in  kind  the  succeeding  month. 

While  Gen.  Abercrombie  was  wasting  his  time  at  Albany,  in 
the  summer  of  1756,  Montcalm  gathered  a  force  of  3000  French 
soidiers.  with  a  band  of  Indians,  and  made  a  descent  on  Oswego 
in  August.  His  heavy  artillery  soon  made  the  place  untenable, 
and  Col.  Mercer,  its  commander,  secured  a  retreat  from  it  across 
the  river,  into  another  fort.  Here  he  was  again  attacked,  but  he 
defended  the  place  with  exemplary  courage  till  a  fatal  shot  killed 
him.  His  garrison  attempted  a  retreat  to  another  fort  four  miles 
up  the  river,  under  command  of  Gen.  Schuyler;  but  the  wary 
Montcalm  flanked  this  movement  with  too  formidable  a  force  to 
make  it  possible,  and  the  whole  command  of  1400  men  were 
obliged  to  give  themselves  up  as  prisoners,  together  with  a  large 
quantity  of  military  stores,  among  which,  however,  there  was 
no  powder,  for  the  garrison  had  spent  it  in  their  defense.  It  had 
not  been  burnt  in  vain,  as  tlie  loss  of  the  ^rench  was  a  proof. 
Among  the  killed  were  20  Indians,  and,  to  placate  their  surviv- 
ing friends,  as  many  American  prisoners  were  given  them  to  be 
killed,  by  the  unscrupulous,  not  to  say  inhuman,  leader  of  the 
French.    The  sick  and  wounded,  among  whom  was  Lieut,  de 

•Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  Berlin. 

♦  SmoUet's  Hist,  of  England,  vol.  4,  p.  178. 


^4r  Pitt  made  Premier. 

La  Court,   were  scalped   by  the  Indians,  notwithstanding  the 
terms  of  the  surrender  guaranteed  their  protection. 

This  closed  the  campaign  of  1756,  with  a  decided  advantage 
to  the  French  and  a  prodigal  waste  of  military  force  on  the  part 
of  the  English,  which  was  attributable  to  the  suspense  which 
then  hung  over  the  political  affairs  of  the  English  court  By 
this  time,  the  popular  feeling  in  England  was  in  favor  of  pushing 
the  war  in  America  with  vigor,  and,  against  his  hitherto  declar- 
ed C(>nvictions,  the  king  now  saw  the  necessity  of  adopting  the 
policy  of  Pitt.  Accordingly,  this  eminent  statesman  was  ap- 
pointed premier.  Even  at  this  early  period,  one  of  the  founda- 
tion stones  of  American  liberty  was  laid.  The  landed  proprie- 
taries under  the  original  Penn  grant  objected  to  have  their  estates 
taxed  for  the  support  of  the  war,  and  their  influence  was  so  great 
in  the  Assembly  that  Denny,  the  governor,  dared  not  oppose 
them.  On  this  account,  oenjamin  Frankhn  refused  any  politi- 
cal favors  from  him,  but,  on  the  contrary,  wrote  caustic  articles 
against  the  sordid  injustice  of  the  proprietors.  The  policy  of 
Franklin  prevailed.  The  estates  in  question  had  to  bear  theii 
share  of  the  taxation.  Denny  was  recalled  by  Pitt,  and  Frank 
lin  began  to  be  looked  upon,  even  in  England,  as  a  statesman  of 
no  ordinary  capacity.  In  America,  a  universal  applause  greeted 
him.  The  Assemblies  of  Georgia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Massachusetts,  appointed  him  as  their  agent  at  the  English  court, 
and  presented  him  five  thousand  pounds.  Arriving  in  London, 
he  sought  an  interview  with  x^itt,  but  that  tenacious  statesman 
forebore  to  let  down  the  dignity  of  the  British  nation  by  holding 
a  colloquy  with  an  American  postmaster.  Through  his  secreta- 
ry, however,  he  counseled  with  him  in  terms  of  high  respect. 

Lord  Loudon  was  at  this  time  making  himself  conspicuous  in 
America  for  his  caustic  criticisms  of  the  provincial  soldiers, 
while  he  was  exhausting  his  resources,  not  in  fighting  the  ene- 
my, lut  in  planning  expeditions  never  destined  to  be  executed.* 

IJnder  his  direction,  the  campaign  of  1757  was  opened  bj 
embarking  from  New  York  with  a  lieavy  force,  to  take  Louis 
burg,  which  place  he  did  not  even  attack,  although  his  flee* 
came  in  sight  of  it,  and  contented  themselves  by  giving  its  gai 
rison  a  scare. 

While  this  untimely  scheme  was  in  progress,  the  vigilant 
Montcalm  appeared  before  Ft.  William  Henry,  an  important  de- 
fense which  had  been  built  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
George,  near  the  spot  where  Dieskau  had  been  deteated  two 
years  before.     He  had  10,000  men,  consisting  of  regulars,  Ca- 

*  A  Philadelphian  said  of  him,  "  He  reminds  me  of  St.  George  on  a  sign-board, 
always  on  horseback  and  never  advancing."  In  a  speech  he  made  at  Boston,  he 
attributed  all  the  ill  success  of  the  English  in  America  to  the  inefficiency  of  thu 
provincial  troops. — Graham's  Ccl,  Hist.,  vol.  IV.,  p.  a. 


Ft.  William  Hewry  Taken.  9.") 

nadians,  and  Indians.  About  2300  troops  were  all  that  could  be 
opposed  to  this  overwhelming;  force,  1500  of  whom  had  just 
been  sent  by  Col.  Webb  from  Ft.  Edwards  on  tlie  Hudson  river. 
While  this  reinforcement  was  inarching  into  the  fort,  Montcalm's 
advance  was  seen  approaching  along  the  sunlit  coast  of  Lake 
George,  their  burnished  arms  sending  its  flickering  streaks  of 
light  before  them,  while  the  welkin  resounded  with  a  din  of  yells 
from  his  Indians,  gaudy  with  feathers  and  darkened  with  war- 
paint. Col.  Monroe  held  command  of  the  fort,  to  whom  Mont- 
calm sent  a  summons  to  surrender,  offering  him  honorable  terms, 
but  Monroe,  aware  of  the  importance  of  the  position,  determin- 
ed to  defend  it.  The  attack  commenced  on  the  3d  of  August 
and  lasted  till  the  9th.  The  guns  of  the  fort  had  nearly  all  been 
burst  in  their  desperate  efforts  to  repel  their  numerous  assailants. 
Hemmed  in  on  every  side,  his  messengers,  sent  to  seek  relief 
from  Ft.  Edwards,  had  been  captured,  and  his  weakness  thereby 
made  known  to  Montcalm.  To  hold  the  place  longer  was  impos- 
sible, and  he  surrendered.  The  garrison  marched  out  with  the 
honors  of  war,  and  were  not  to  appear  again  in  arms  against 
France  under  eighteen  months  unless  exchanged.  They  were  to 
be  protected  against  violence  from  Montcalm's  Indians  by  a  suit- 
able escort  of  French  soldiers,  on  their  way  to  Ft.  Edward,  the 
place  to  which  they  had  been  permitted  to  retire  by  the  terms 
of  the  surrender. 

No  sooner  had  they  left  the  fort  than  the  Indians  began  to 
gather  around  them  with  no  good  intent.  First  they  commenced 
robbing  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  next  the  shining  coats  of  the 
British  regulars  attracted  their  attention.  These  were  pulled 
from  their  backs,  and  whatever  of  value  could  be  found  about 
their  persons  was  taken.  A  carnival  of  blood  followed,  and  sev- 
eral hundred  of  the  unprotected  captives  fell  victims.  Jonathan 
Carver  was  among  the  prisoners,  but  escaped  as  if  by  a  miracle, 
with  the  loss  of  his  coat  and  covered  with  wounds.  He  says 
that,  during  the  maddening  carter  of  butchery,  the  French  sol- 
diers and  officers  walked  about  outside  of  the  bloody  arena  in 
careless  unconcern,  without  attempting  to  stay  the  hands  of  the 
destroyers.* 

Not  long  after  this  atrocity,  says  the  same  author,  the  small- 
pox broke  out  atnong  these  Indians,  who,  tormented  into  deliri- 
um, threw  themselves  into  the  water  to  assuage  the  burning  irri- 
tation. Death  followed  in  almost  every  case,  and  a  few  mottled- 
faced  savages  were  the  only  survivors  of  this  tra";edy  which  sent 
a  pang  of  grief  throughout  New  England  and  New  York.  In 
justice  to  the  Canadians,  it  should  not  be  omitted  that  some  of 
them  refused  to  celebrate  the  unhallowed  victory. 

•  See  Carver'*  Traveli,  pp.  295  to  308. 


96  Expedition  to  take  Louisburg. 

The  fus:itives  who  escaped  the  slaughter  gathered  within  the 
walls  of  Ft.  Edwards  and  thence  made  their  way  to  tlieir  homes, 
there  to  tell  the  tale  of  treachery  and  murder  that  had  stained 
the  French  faith,  and  a  recoil  of  righteous  "indignation  arose 
throusrhout  the  country. 

The  statesmanship  of  Pitt  had  already  infused  its  vigor  into 
the  heart  of  Eiighmd,  and  now  its  vitalizing  influence  was  about 
to  cross  the  xVtlantic.  lie  recalled  Loudon,  and  to  Gen.  Aber- 
crombie  was  given  the  chief  command.*  Next  in  rank  was  Ma- 
jor Gen.  Amherst,  and  an  additional  force  of  5000  men  was  put 
in  the  field,  with  which  to  open  the  campaign  of  1758. 

Gen.  Amherst,  assisted  by  Admiral  Boscawen,  was  to  attack 
Louisburg;  Gen.  Forbes  was  to  inarch  against  Ft.  Duquesne; 
while  Gen.  Abercrombie  took  upon  himself  the  task  of  driving 
the  French  out  of  Lake  Champhiin  by  an  attack  on  Ticonderoga. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  the  expedition  against  Louisburg,  con- 
sisting of  12,000  British  regulars  and  157  vessels,  direct  from 
England,  embarked  from  Halifax,  the  place  of  rendezvous,  on 
the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia.  The  fleet  soon  arrived  at  the  tangent 
point  of  land  on  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  where  the  fort  stood, 
amidst  the  noisy  desolation  of  the  winds  and  waves,  like  a  polar 
bear  disputing  possession  of  an  iceberg.f  The  entrance  to 
its  harbor  was  obstructed  by  sunken  vessels,  while,  far 
along  the  wave-beaten  shore,  the  tri-colored  flag  of  France  waved 
in  defiance  from  bastion  and  tower.  In  the  face  of  these  the 
troops  must  make  a  landing  and  tight  their  way  to  the  rear  of 
the  town,  over  uneven  ground  affording  shelter  to  its  defenders. 
The  charge  of  this  difficult  task  was  given  to  Gen.  Wolfe,  the 
same  who,  the  next  year,  led  the  British  troops  up  the  Heights 
of  Abraham.  The  soldiers  threw  themselves  into  their  yawls, 
and  labored  at  the  oar  through  the  surf  to  gain  the  shore,  amidst 
a  tempest  of  shot  from  its  defenders.  Many  were  thrown  into 
the  sea  by  the  breakers,  but  the  hardihood  of  the  sailors  finally 
prevailed,  and  a  landing  in  force  was  made  at  the  niouth  of  Cor- 
moran  Creek,  a  few  miles  north  of  the  place.  Louisburg  was 
now  soon  environed  with  heavy  artillery,  which  poured  hot  shot 
into  the  town,  and  even  set  fire  to  ihe  French  war  vessels  in  the 
harbor,  burning  all  except  two.  To  destroy  these,  Admiral 
Boscawen  set  on  foot  an  adventure,  which  for  daring  has  few 
equals  in  the  annals  of  heroic  warfare.  Capt.  Cook,  the  same 
whose  wonderful  voyages,  subsequently  made,  excited  universal 
attention,  was  the  one  to  whose  charge  the  enterprise  was  confi- 

•  The  reason  assigned  by  Pitt  for  this  step  was  that  he  could  never  ascertain 
what  Loudon  was  doing. — Graham. 

f  This  fortress  was  the  great  French  depot  for  supplies,  from  whi'-h  to  reinforce 
the  inland  ports  of  New  France,  and  its  harbor  was  a  convenient  refnge  for  French 
war  vessels. 


English  Defeated  Before  Ticonderoga.  07 

d^d.  Tinder  cover  of  niglit,  at  the  head  of  600  men,  he  silently 
rowed  into  the  harbor,  set  fire  to  one  of  the  vessels,  and  towed 
the  other  away.  The  English  fleet  now  entered  the  harbor,  and 
the  town  being  at  their  mercy,  Drucciurt,  its  commander,  capitu- 
lated on  the  27th  of  July,  and  once  more  the  key  to  St.  Law- 
rence was  given  up  to  the  English.*  5637  prisoners,  221  can- 
non, 18  mortars,  and  large  quantities  of  ammunition,  were  the 
results  of  this  victory.  The  war  prisoners  were  sent  to  England, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  4000  in  number,  were,  by  the 
inexorable  laws  of  war  in  those  days,  torn  from  their  homes  and 
sent  to  France  on  English  transports.  The  defenses  of  the  town 
were  then  demolished,  and  the  place  was  left  without  a  solitary 
inhabitant  to  mourn  over  its  destruction.  The  Island  of  St. 
John  shared  the  fate  of  Cape  Breton  Island,  both  of  which  fell 
under  the  flag  ef  England  "♦^  the  reduction  of  Louisburg.  This 
was  a  grievous  blow  to  the  French  of  the  St.  Lawrence/  as  it 
was  from  here  that  they  largely  drew  their  supplies  to  feed  their 
soldiers,  both  beef  and  corn  being  exported  from  the  fertile  fields 
of  St.  John's  Island,  even  in  that  early  day. 

While  the  siege  of  Louisburg  was  in  full  tide.  Gen.  Abercrom- 
bie  was  marshaling  his  forces  to  attack  Montcalm,  who  had 
strongly  intrenched  himself  within  the  walls  of  Ticonderoga, 
Early  in  July,  he  embar-ked  his  troops  on  Lake  George,  consist- 
ing of  7000  British  regulars,  a  part  of  whom  were  Highlanders, 
10,000  provincials,  and  a  few  companies  of  Indians.  No  less 
than '900  batteaux  and  135  whale-boats  were  required  for  their 
transportation.  Arriving  within  a  few  miles  of  the  fort,  the  ar- 
my disembarked  on  the  wooded  shore  and  commenced  their  cir- 
cuitous route  over  hills  and  valleys  shaded  by  a  dense  canopy  of 
evergreen  foliage.  They  soon  arrived  at  an  outpost  of  Ticon- 
deroga, which  .the  French  evacuated  in  hot  haste  and  disappear- 
ed among  th|e  trees.  The  English  kept  on  their  course,  but  soon 
their  guides  became  bewildered  within  the  toils  of  the  thicket, 
when  suddenly  they  came  in  contact  with  the  company  of  French 
soldiers  who  had  just  before  abandoned  their  post  at  the  approach 
of  the  English.  They,  too,  were  lost  in  the  woody  mazes,  and, 
after  a  sharp  skirmish,  surrendered  themselves  as  prisoners. 
From  them  Gen.  Abercrombie  learned  that  Montcalm  had  but 
6000  troops  at  the  fort,  he  having  lately  sent  away  a  detachment 
of  3000  men  to  invade  the  country  on  the  Mohawk  river,  but 
that  th's  force  had  just  been  ordered  back  to  assist  in  his  defense. 
Abercrombie  now  resolved  to  assault  the  fort  before  their  return, 
Accordingly,  the   regulars  were  ordered  to  charge   against  the 

•  An  expedition  had  been  planned  a'jainst  the  place  by  Gov.  Shirley  ten  years 
before  the  war,  when  it  was  taken  by  New  England  troops,  but  restored  again  to 
France  at  the  peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle ;  since  which  time  the  French  had  l&id 
ont  thirty  million  livres  in  strengthening  it. 


i*S  Ft.  Frontenac  Taken. 

works,  which  they  did  with  an  exalted  courage  seldom  witnessed. 
The  place  stood  on  a  spit  of  land  extending  into  the  lake,  the 
approach  to  which  was  over  a  neck  of  springy  soil  covered  with 
trees.  These  liad  been  felled  with  the  tops  pointing  away  from 
tbe  fort,  and  covered  the  ground  over  which  the  assailants  had 
to  pass  with  a  tangle  of  brush.  1800  of  these  brave  soldiers 
were  shot  in  the  attempt  to  force  their  way  through  T.  s  abattis. 
when  the  retreat  was  sounded  by  the  rash  commander,  and  he 
returned  to  his  camp  on  Lake  George. 

Before  marching  on  this  disastrous  expedition,  Col.  Bradstreet 
had  been  sent  with  a  force  of  3000  provincials,  on  a  heroic  ad- 
venture far  within  the  enemy's  territory,  on  their  main  line.  It 
will  not  be  forgotten  with  how  much  zeal  Ft.  Frontenac  had  been 
pushed  to  completion,  in  the  early  and  ambitious  days  of  La 
Salle.  Located  at  the  point  where  the  St.  Lawrence  outlets  the 
watefs  of  Lake  Ontario,  it  commanded  the  communication  along 
the  great  thorouglifare  between  Canada  and  the  French  posts  of 
Ft.  Niagara,  Ft.  Duquesiia,  and  the  Illinois  country.  If  this 
place  could  be  taken.  Ft.  Duquesne,  toward  which  an  expedition 
was  now  renewed  by  the  English,  could  not  be  reinforced  from 
Canada.  Crossing  the  eastern  extremity  of  Lake  Ontario,  Brad- 
street  came  upon  the  unsuspecting  tenants  of  the  fort,  where  a 
feeble  garrison  was  reveling  in  a  treacherous  security  behind  its 
walls  of  stone.  They  surrendered  without  attempting  a  defense, 
and  60  cannon,  16  mortars,  a  bountiful  store  of  merchandise  and 
ammunition,  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the  forts  to  the  west, 
were  the  direct  spoils  of  tlie  victors,  but  18  French  war  vessels 
on  the  lake  were  soon  added  to  the  list.  Bradstreet  destroyed  the 
fort  and  returned  with  his  force  to  Oswego,  which  place  Mont- 
calm had  evacuated  soon  after  his  victory  over  Mercer. 

During  the  whole  season,  while  the  movements  against  Louis- 
burg,  Ticonderoga,  and  Ft.  Frontenac,  had  been  going  on,  pre- 
parations for  the  attack  on  Ft.  Duquesne  had  been  in  progress, 
but,  ere  it  could  be  brought  about,  prodigious  barriers  of  nature 
had  to  be  overcome  in  crossing  the  mountains. 

The  Pennsylvanians,  more  intent  on  their  interests  than  the 
public  weal,  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  get  a  road 
cut  from  their  frontiers  to  the  west  at  the  expense  of  the  military 
exchequer.  While  Washington  and  the  Virginians  urged  the 
advantages  of  the  old  road  made  by  the  Ohio  Company  six  years 
before,  and  greatly  improved  by  Braddock's  engineers  two  years 
later,  Gen.  Forbes,  who  was  the  commander  of  the  expedition, 
was  prostrate  on  a  bed  of  sickness,  and  to  Col.  Boquet,  second 
in  command,  was  given  authority  to  decide  on  the  choice  of 
routes.  His  decision  was  in  favor  of  the  Pennsylvania  route, 
and  oii  this  line  the  army  took  up  its  march  late  in  July.    Wash- 


Mission  of  Post,  *^^ 

ington,  who  held  a  colonel's  commission,  now  entered  cordially 
into  the  work,  and,  as  usual,  took  the  front. 

While  the  axe  is  chopping  a  new  path  to  the  Ohio  country  for 
the  bayonet  to  follow,  we  will  take  a  glance  at  its  tenants. 

The  Delawares,  whose  home  was  originally  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, had  ever  been  at  poace  with  the  whites,  till  the  outbreak 
of  the  war.  William  Penn,  their  loving  tather,  had  long  been 
in  his  grave,  and  his  mantle  of  charity  not  having  fallen  upon 
his  successors,  the  Delawares  had  been  compelled  to  give  up  the 
fairest  portion  of  their  lands.*  But  in  the  autumn  of  1756,  after 
more  than  a  year  of  warfare  between  the  whites  and  the  Dela- 
wares, who  still  remained  on  the  Susquehanna,  some  Quakers, 
whose  broad-brims  secured  them  a  safe  interview,  succeeded  in 
restoring  the  old  chain  of  friendship.  This  renewed  league, 
however,  did  not  bind  the  Delawares  who  had  been  driven  to 
the  Ohio.  These,  with  the  Shawanese,  Mingoes,  and  many  oth- 
er tribes,  had  been  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  French  ever 
since  the  war  had  begun.  But  since  the  late  English  successes, 
the  possibility  of  winning  their  friendship  was  considered  by  the 
English,  and  friendly  messages  were  sent  to  them  by  the  eastern 
Delawares.  The  Fi'ench,  meantime,  began  to  send  emissaries 
to  the  eastern  Delawares,  inviting  them  to  join  their  brothers  in 
the  Ohio  country,  under  prutection  of  the  lilies  of  France.  Au- 
tumn was  now  at  hand,  and  the  army  of  Forbes  was  still  toiling 
among  the  mountains  tov/ard  the  fatal  fort,  liable  at  any  time  to 
be  attacked  by  a  host  of  Indians,  and  the  success  of  his  expedi- 
tion seemed  doubtful.  In  this  emergency,  it  was  deemed  all- 
imptjrtant  to  send  an  able  messenger  to  the  hostile  tribes  of  the 
Ohio,  to  induce  them,  if  possible,  to  forsake  the  waning  fortunes 
of  the  French. 

Prominent  among  the  Moravian  (United  Brethren)  missiona- 
ries was  a  heroic  apostle  of  their  ancient  faith,  named  Christian 
Frederic  Post.  This  remarkable  people  dated  their  order  back 
to  John  Huss,  who  preceded  Luther  a  century.  In  1732,  they 
established  a  missionary  station  in  the  Island  of  St.  Thomas. 
The  next  year  they  are  tound  among  the  icebergs  of  Greenland, 
and  the  next  in  Georgia,  teaching  the  savages  the  elements  of 
Christianity.  In  1730,  they  came  to  Pennsylvania  and  set  up  a 
tabernacle  among  the  Delawares.  So  successful  had  they  been 
here  in  converting  the  Indians,  that  the  jealousy  of  the  borderers 
was  aroused  lest  the  Bible  and  hymn-book  should  rival  the  whis- 
ky-jug. Post  was  one  of  the  foremost  workers  in  the  missionary 
cause,  and  consequently  became  an  object  of  great  aversion  to 
the  border  ruffians.  He  was  thrown  into  prison  on  false  charges, 
and,  when   liberated  for  want  of  evidence,  was  set  upon  by  a 


•  Doc.  Hist,  nf  N.  Y.,  vol.  II.,  p.  740. 


1(M>  Ft.  Daquesne  Taken. 

mob,  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life.*  He  it  was  who  vol- 
unteered to  be  the  bearer  of  an  English  message  to  the  hostile 
Indians  on  the  Ohio. 

lie  started  from  Piiiladelphia  on  the  loth  of  July.  A  liroad 
belt  of  debatable  tf  rritory  had  to  be  crossed,  wliich  had  been 
traveled  only  by  scalping  parties  since  Braddock's  defeat.  On 
the  7th  of  August,  he  passed  the  French  post  of  Venango  un- 
harmed, as  if  a  spell  had  been  put  upon  its  tenants.  Arriving 
at  the  Indian  town  of  Kushkushkee,  he  met  200  warriors,  to 
■whom  he  made  propt)sals  of  peace.     Their  reply  was  as  follows: 

''Why  do  you  not  light  yonr  battles  at  home  or  on  the  high 
seas  ?  Your  heart  is  jiood — you  speak  sincerely — but  there  is  a 
large  number  among  you  who  wish  to  be  rich.  We  do  not  wish 
to  be  rich  and  take  away  what  others  have.  The  "white  people 
think  we  have  no  brains.  But  remember,  when  you  hunt  a  rat- 
tle-snake, perhaps  it  will  bite  you  before  you  see  it."t 

Passing  on  to  Sunkonk,  the  Indians  at  first  surrounded  him 
with  drawn  knives,  and  the  French  offered  a  reward  tor  his 
scalp ;  but,  fortunately,  there  were  some  Delawares  present  who 
had  listened  to  his  preaching,  and,  through  their  influence,  a  re- 
action soon  began  to  be  manifest,  insomuch  that  they  asked  him 
to  read  his  message.  While  reading  it,  a  French  messenger 
came  in  from  Ft.  iJuquesne  with  a  belt.  The  English  message 
had  ah'eady  won  over  the  vacillating  Indians,  and  they  refused 
to  receive  the  French  token,  but  kicked  it  about  as  if  it  had  been 
a  snake,  says  Post's  journal,  A  council  was  now  proposed  to 
be  held.  Accordingly,  on  the  24th,  it  met,  and  the  place  chosen 
for  it  was  across  the  river  from  Ft.  Duqnesne,  within  the  reach 
of  its  guns.  Eight  different  tribes  attended  and  made  peaceful 
promises  to  the  English,  the  French  not  daring  to  disturb  the 
grave  deliberations,  though  they  dissolved  their  alliance  with  all 
the  Indian  tribes  except  the  Shawanese  and  a  few  others.  Post 
remained  till  the  9th  of  September,  when  he  started  on  his  re- 
turn. 

He  reached  Philadelphia  in  safety,  and  his  journal  was  print- 
ed. All  the  whi.e,  Forbes'  army  was  slowlj  advancing  on  the 
fort.  On  the  21st  of  September,  a  strong  rcconiioitering  force 
was  sent  forward  under  Major  Grant.  Arriving  near  the  fort, 
they  were  defeated  with  a  loss  of  200  men. 

While  Forbes'  army  lay  encamped  at  midnight,  but  a  few 
miles  from  the  place,  a  deep  sound  came  quivering  along  the 
ground.  "  Ft.  Duqnesne  is  blown  up !"  exclaimed  the  sentinels, 
as  the  distant  explosion  broke  the  wild  silence  around  them. 
The  army  pressed  forward  with  the  first  peep  of  day,  when  three 
deserters  from  the  French  soon  met  them  and  confirmed  the  sua- 

•  Heckewelder.  t  Post's  Journal. 


iSc&ne  at  Braddock'' s  Field.  101 

picion ,  and  without  further  opposition  the  smouldering  ruins 
of  the  fort  vere  taken  possession  of  on  the  25th  of  November, 
1758.  Its  garrison,  deserted  by  the  Indians,  had  fled,  thanks  to 
the  hardihood  of  Post,  A  new  fort  was  imraedia'iely  built  and 
named  Ft,  Pitt,  in  honor  of  the  great  premier,  and  200  Virgini- 
ans were  left  here  to  stand  guard  over  the  English  flag,  which 
now  waved  in  triumph  for  the  first  time  in  the  West. 

Among  both  the  "English  and  provincial  troops  composing 
Forbes'  army  were  surviving  relatives  of  distinguished  persons 
slain  in  Braddock's  defeat,  and  a  desire  to  visit  his  battie-tield 
and  pay  the  last  honors  to  their  mouldering  relics  was  manifest. 
Gen.  Forbes,  though  an  invalid  and  carried  on  a  litter,  entered 
heartily  into  this  pious  research,  and  gave  the  necessary  orders 
for  its  execution  under  the  charge  of  Capt,  West,  brother  to  the 
celebrated  painter,  Benjamin  West.  Besides  his  own  company, 
a  band  of  Indians,  lately  won  over  to  the  English  interests  by 
Post,  were  assigned  to  his  command.  Among  these  were  seve- 
ral who  had  assisted  in  the  slaughter. 

Major  Sir  Peter  Halket,  a  member  of  Forbes'  stafi",  had  lost  a 
father  and  a  brother  there,  and  from  his  description  of  their  ap- 
pearance to  the  Indians,  one  of  them  assured  him  that  he  could 
point  to  the  spot  where  they  fell,  near  a  remarkable  tree.     The 
expedition  took  up  its  march  along  the  path  through  the  forest 
that  led  to  the  fatal  field,  and  the  Indians,  who  were  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the   Sdlenmity  of  the   occasion,  led   the  way  with 
reverential  footstep.     When  the  field  was  reached,  the  search 
began  around  its  environs.     Skeletons  were  found  lying  across 
the  trunks  of  fallen   trees,  a  proof,  in   their  imaginations,  that 
they  had  died  here  in  the  lingering  torments  of  mortal  wounds 
and   starvation   conibined.     In  other  places,  disjointed   bones 
were  scattered  around,  giving  evidence  that  the  wolves  of  the 
forest  had  claimed  them  as  their  share  of  the  spoils.     Following 
tlie  Indians  to  the  spot  where  Halket's  father  and  brother  weie 
supposed  to  have  fallen,  the  Indian  who  saw  them  fall  pointed 
out  the  crouching-place  he  had  occupied  during  the  battle  and 
the  tree  under  which  they  had  fallen.     Large  masses  of  leaves 
covered  the  ground,  which  the  wind  had  drifted  over  their  bones. 
These  were  removed,  and  two  skeletons  lay  together,  one  across 
the  other.     Tenderly  the  Indians  raised  them  from  the  ground, 
when  Sir  Peter  Halket  said,  "My  father  had  an  artificial  tooth ; 
examine  his  jaw."     This  was   done,  and  there  was  the  tooth. 
Sir  Peter  then  exclaimed,   "This  is  my  father!"  and  fell  insen- 
sible into  the  arms  of  his  companions.     A  grave  was  dug  on  the 
spot ;   the  bones  of  father  and   son  were  placed  in  it ;  a  High- 
land plaid  was  spread  over  them ;  they  were  covered  with  earth, 
and  a  salute'was  fired  over  their  wilderness  sepulcher.     The  la- 


102       Ge)i.  Amherst  appointed  to  the  Chief  Oomviand. 

dian  who  pointed  them  out  was  not  asked  who  was  their  execa- 
tioner.* 

We  come  now  to  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  Wu,r.  Even 
as  the  whirlwind  gathers  force  as  it  travels,  so  did  the  magni- 
tude of  the  issue  in  America  enlarge  as  well  as  the  national  am- 
bition to  circumvent  the  French.  Wiiatever  raisi:;iviiigs  had 
ever  existed  in  the  English  court  as  to  tha  policy  of  driving  the 
French  out  of  Canada,  now  vanished  in  the  broad  path  of  nation- 
al grandeur,  and  it  was  determined  to  attack  Quebec  itself,  t<> 
bring  about  what  both  England  and  America  demanded,  the 
complete  expulsion  of  the  French. 

In  consequence  of  the  reverse  of  Gen.  Abercrorabie  before  the 
walls  of  Ticonderoga,  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  supply  his 
place  with  another  general  whose  hold  upon  the  public  confidence 
had  not  been  impaired  by  defeat.  Gen.  Amherst  possessed  these 
qualifications,  and  was  promptly  appointed  by  Pitt  to  succeed 
him.  Under  his  guidance,  the  colonial  States  put  forth  renewed 
exertions  to  end  the  war  by  one  moro  decisive  campaign.  Con- 
necticut raised  5000  men,  among  whom  was  Israel  Putnam,  des- 
tined to  a  lasting  fame.  Massachusetts  raised  6500,  and  New 
Hampshire  1000.  The  numbers  raised  bv  other  States  were 
smaller ;  but  all  the  English  forces  in  the  lield  numbered  fully 
50,000,  about  half  of  whom  were  British  regulars  and  the  bal- 
ance provincials,  any  and  all  of  whom  had  mettle  and  endurance 
not  to  be  questioned. 

Ere  the  campaign  of  1759  could  be  opened,  a  wintry  truce 
must  intervene,  chaining  the  hostile  arms  of  both  nations  with 
icy  fetters,  while  their  respective  armies  shivered  in  their  bar- 
racks, at  safe  distances  from  each  other,  by  fitful  turns  killing 
the  tedious  hours  with  boisterous  hilarity  or  thoughts  of  home, 
of  which  none  can  think  more  tenderly  than  the  volunteer  sol- 
dier fresh  from  the  cornfield. 

The  English  held  the  inside  of  the  circle,  or  rather  its  segment 
commencing  at  Ft.  Pitt,  where  a  litle  band  of  Virginians  stood 
sentinels  at  the  outer  edge  of  the  immense  plains  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley.  At  Oswego,  the  army  of  Gen.  Bradstreet  were  re- 
posing on  their  laurels,  after  their  brilliant  feat  of  taking  Ft. 
Frontenac.  At  the  head  of  Lake  George  rested  the  main  body 
of  the  English  and  provincial  soldiers.  North  of  them  were 
formidable  bodies  of  French  and  Canadians  entrenched,  in  con- 
fident security,  within  the  walls  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point. 

Ft.  Niagara  was  a  post  of  great  importance,  and  a  respectable 
contingent^  of  French  soldiers  now  garrisoned  its  walls.  The 
small  stockades  along  French  Creek  had  never  been  anything 
more  than  resting  places  for  the  French  on  their  way  to  Ft.  Du- 

•  Gait's  Life  of  West. 


Johnson'' s  Victory  at  Niagara.  ^"'^ 

quesne;  and,  as  this  place  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the  English, 
the  French  only  held  them  with  the  hope  of  retaking  this  strat- 
egic point. 

While  at  these  various  places  the  armies  of  the  two  nations 
confronted  each  other  during  the  winter,  the  salons  of  Quebec 
and  Montreal  were  gay  with  Parisian  elegance.  The  Frenchnieu 
who  could  crowd  the  "theaters  of  Paris  during  the  throes  of  the 
French  Revolution  subsequent  to  this,  were  of  the  same  spirit  as 
these  volatile  Canadians,  undisturbed  as  they  were  by  the  shad- 
ows of  an  English  invasion  hovering  around  their  southern  bor- 
der. All  the  while,  visions  of  future  grandeur  rose  before  the 
eyes  of  the  English,  and  a  rare  combination  of  fortuitous  events 
was  destined  to  verify  them. 

Gen.  Amherst  was  to  attack  the  posts  of  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point.  Gen.  James  Wolfe  was  to  lay  siege  to  Quebec, 
and  Gen.  Prideaux,  with  Gen.  Johnson  as  second  in  command, 
was  to  march  against  Niagara.  This  expedition  started  from  Os- 
wego early  in  July,  1759,  making  its  way  in  boats  along  the 
southern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  where  they  landed  without  op- 
positum  at  the  mouth  of  Niagara  on  the  6th.  The  fort  origin- 
ally built  here  by  La  Salle,  in  1678,  had  been  abandoned  by  the 
French  in  1688,  and  again  rebuilt  by  them  in  1726,  since  which 
time  it  had  been  a  menace  to  the  L'oquois ;  but  to  the  western 
tribes  it  was  a  haven  of  promise,  on  which  rested  an  assurance 
of  protection  from  their  traditional  enemies.  To  the  French  it 
was  second  in  importance  only  to  Quebec,  commanding  as  it  did 
the  channel  of  commerce,  which  was  then  carried  on  by  canoes 
only,  along  the  entire  chain  of  lakes.  No  sooner  had  Gen.  Pou- 
chot,  the  commander  of  the  fort,  learned  of  the  approach  of  tlie 
invaders,  than  he  summoned  to  his  aid  all  the  spare  French 
troops  from  Detroit,  Presque  Isle,  Le  Boeuf,  and  Venango,  and 
as  man}'  Indian  allies  as  could  be  induced  to  take  up  arms  for 
the  declining  fortunes  of  the  French.  The  number  of  French 
thus  raised  from  the  distant  forts  and  the  Indians  combined  was 
1500;  but,  ere  they  could  gather  within  the  walls  of  the  fort, 
Johnson  intercepted  their  path,  and  they  were  obliged  to  fight 
his  army  on  an  equal  footing.  TJiis  battle  took  place  not  far 
from  Niagara  Falls,  on  the  east  bank.  D' Aubrey,  the  leader  of 
the  French,  dashed  against  Johnson's  well-trained  army  of  pro- 
vincials and  Indians,  with  desperate  resolution  ;  but  the  fire  they 
met  was  so  tierce  that  it  was  like  the  surprise  of  an  ambuscade. 
D' Aubrey  himself,  with  17  officers,  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
many  of  the  French  soldiers,  while  their  red  allies  Hed  into  their 
native  forests  to  brood  over  their  misfortunes.  Gen.  Prideaux 
was  pushing  the  siege  all  the  while,  but  was  killed  in  the  trench- 
es by  the  bursting  of  a  gun,  when  the  command  fell  upon  John 
8on,  who,  afler  his  victory,  summoned  Gen.  Pouchot  to  surrcn- 


J<'4  Gen.    Wolfe  before  (Quebec. 

der.  The  summons  was  obeyed,  and  607  officers  and  privates 
became  prisoners.  A  large  quantity  of  scalping-knives  were 
amon^  the  military  stores  taken.  The  prisoners  were  sent  to 
New  York,  leaving  behind  them  many  a  romantic  reminiscence 
of  a  spot  in  which  nature  was  so  prodigal  with  her  gifts,  among 
which  the  dusky  beauty  of  the  forest  was  not  the  soonest  to  be 
forgotten  by  the  gay  French  lieutenants. 

This  blow  effectually  severed  the  line  of  communication  be- 
tween Canada  and  the  Mississippi  valley ;  but  since  the  French 
had  been  driven  from  Ft.  Duquesne,  little  remained  then  which 
could  offer  any  serious  resistance  to  the  English,  scattered  as  the 
forts  were  from  Detroit  to  the  far-distant  post  of  New  Orleans. 

While  Johnson  had  been  dictating  terms  to  the  French  at  Ni- 
agara, Amherst  massed  his  forces  at  Albany,  crossed  Lake  George 
with  12,000  men,  and  appeared  before  Ticonderoga  on  the  22d 
of  July.  He  immediately  began  to  plant  his  bat'^^sries;  but,  be- 
fore the  place  was  environed,  the  French  evacuated,  blowing  up 
their  magazine  behind  them,  and  took  refuge  within  the  walls  of 
Crown  Point  on  the  27th.  Gen.  Amherst  promptly  followed 
them  to  their  new  retreat ;  but,  at  his  approach,  they  again  fled 
down  the  lake,  and  entrenched  themselves  on  the  island  of  Aux 
Noix.  The  season  was"  now  too  far  advanced  to  continue  opera- 
tions, and  after  some  skirmishing,  in  which  two  French  vessels 
were  captured,  Gen.  Amherst  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Crown 
Point. 

Gen.  Wolfe  was  now  before  the  walls  of  Quebec.  Early  in 
June,  he  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  with  8000  men,  and  made 
a  landing  on  the  island  of  Orleans,  just  below  the  city.  He 
found  it  planted  on  the  summit  of  a  headland  of  rock,  at  the 
base  of  which  the  St.  Lawrence,  a  mile  wide,  rolled  along  the 
surplus  waters  of  the  great  lakes.  Below,  the  St.  Charles  and 
Montmorenci,  tributaries  from  the  north,  cleft  to  its  base  the  ad- 
amantine bank  on  which  the  city  stood.  Entrenched  behind 
earthworks,  on  the  bluffs  of  these  streams,  rested  the  left  wing  of 
its  defenders,  the  right  extending  to  the  city.  Heavy  forests 
extended  far  to  the  north  in  the  rear,  affording  additional  pro- 
tection. Above  the  city,  the  same  bank  held  its  undiminished 
height  for  miles  along  the  river.  Montcalti>  himself  stood  be- 
hind these  defenses  with  14, (00  soldiers.  Before  going  on  with 
the  progress  of  Wolfe,  let  us  turn  back  to  the  days  of  Ft.  Ne 
cesbity. 

When  Col.  Washington  gave  up  this  fort,  five  years  before,  it 
will  not  be  forgotten  that  Major  Kobert  Stobo  was  one  of  the 
hostages  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  French.  He  was  taken 
to  Ft.  Duquesne,  where  his  ready  adaption  to  his  situation  as 
prisoner  soon  won  favor  among  the  French  soldiers,  who  have 
«  ver  been  conspicuous  in  history  for  their  magnanimity  toward 


Stohd's  Captivity.  1<>'> 

a  fallen  foe.  Among  the  Indians  who  came  and  went  to  the 
fort  without  ceremony,  was  one  named  Delaware  George,  who 
bad  been  a  disciple  of  Post*  on  the  Delaware  river.  Something 
in  his  companionship  won  the  contidence  oi  Stobo,  and  he 
sent  the  converted  Delaware  through  the  forests  with  a  letter  to 
Virginia,  containing  important  information.  Delaware  George 
quietly  left  the  place  without  exciting  suspicion,  and  delivered 
tlie  message.  At  Braddock's  defeat,  the  document,  with  all  oth- 
er papers  of  Braddock's,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  French  ;  but 
as  no  one  at  the  fort  could  translate  English,  it  was  sent  to  Paris. 
Meantime,  Stobo  had  been  sent  to  Canada,  and  here  the  evidence 
of  his  spying  message  overtook  him,  on  the  28th  of  November, 
1756.  He  was  tried  and  sentenced  to  be  hung,  but  the  numer- 
ous friends  he  had  made  in  Canada,  particularly  among  the  fas- 
cinating women  of  Quebec,  came  to  his  rescue,  and  his  pardon 
was  applied  for  at  the  French  court.  The  king  gave  it,  and 
once  more  Stobo  was  an  honored  hostage,  though  a  prisoner. 
He  soon  afterward  made  his  escape,  but  a  reward  of  6000  livres 
>)rought  about  his  capture,  which  was  effected  on  the  banks  of 
the  Montmorenci,  while  he  was  looking  for  a  boat  in  which  to 
cross  the  St.  Lawrence.  This  river  crossed,  he  intended  to  pierce 
the  hostile  forests  which  intervened  between  Canada  and  the 
English  frontier.  After  his  unsuccessful  attempt  to  escape,  his 
confinement  became  more  strict  and  his  health  gave  way.  This 
misfortune  redoubled  the  tenderness  of  his  fair  patron  who  had 
lo:ig  befriended  him.  This  true-hearted  heroine  now  used  her 
influence  with  Vaudreuil,  the  governor,  to  mitigate  the  severity 
of  Stobo's  confinement.  Her  plea  was  successful,  ani  he  was 
allowed  to  exercise  on  the  ramparts,  anywhere  within  the  lines 
of  the  sentinels.  Here  he  soon  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr. 
Stephenson,  a  native  of  NewHatnpshire,  who  had  been  captured 
from  the  daring  band  of  Rogers'  Rangers.  He  was  a  ship  carpen- 
ter, and  being  at  work  for  the  French  in  the  shipyard,  knew  all  the 
possible  avenues  of  escape  by  boat.  A  plan  was  soon  made  up 
by  the  two  to  effect  this,  and,  the  first  favorable  opportunity,  it 
was  put  in  execution,  b}'  seizing  a  yawl  and  going  down  the  St. 
Lawrence.  Soon  as  his  flight  had  been  discovered,  a  reward 
was  again  offered  for  him ;  but  the  rapid  current  of  the  river 
had  left  behind  all  danger  of  capture. 

One  stricken  heart  was  also  left  behind,  to  whom  his  empty 
cell  was  a  painful  memorial  of  unrequited  love. 

The  adventurers,  after  great  privations,  reached  Louisburg 
while  Gen.  Wolfe  was  there,  joined  his  army,  and  were  with 
hlni  at  the  siege  of  Quebec.  While  this  was  in  progress,  Wolfe 
wished  to  communicate  with   Gen.  Amherst,  and   Stobo  volun- 


*  See  Heckewelder. 


106  'Wolfe  Defeated  on  the  Montmorenci. 

teered  to  to  take  the  message  to  hitn,  across  the  country,  which 
he  succeeded  in  delivering  at  liis  winter  quarters  at  Crown  Point. 
Tills  done,  the  hero  proceeded  to  his  old  home  in  Virginia, 
where,  on  November  19th,  1759,  the  House  of  Burgesses  voted 
liim  a  bonus  of  £1000,  besides  full  pay  for  lijs  services  during 
his  eventful  captivity.* 

The  first  place  attacked  by  Wolfe,  after  landing,  was  the 
Heights  of  Point  Levi,  across  the  river  from  Quebec.  This  he 
carried  with  ease,  and  erected  a  buttery  on  the  spot,  from  which 
he  opened  tire  upon  the  town,  reducing  the  lower  portions  of  it 
to  ashes.  Montcalm,  trying  in  vain  to  dislodge  the  English 
from  this  point,  conceived  the  idea  of  burning  their  fleet  as  it 
lay  anchored  below  the  city.  A  number  of  lire-ships  were  set 
afloat  from  above,  to  accomplish  this  design ;  but  the  English 
sailors,  by  great  exertion,  managed  to  turn  them  aside,  and  they 
harmlessly  consumed  below.  Wolfe  in  turn  made  a  direct  attack 
on  the  left  wing  of  Montcalm's  army,  as  it  lay  intrenched  on  the 
banks  of  the  Montmorenci.  A  strong  detachment  of  Highland- 
ers and  provincials  crossed  the  river  in  small  boats,  under  cover 
of  a  fire  from  the  ships,  and,  clambering  up  the  steep  bank  of 
the  river,  made  an  impetuous  attack  on  the  French  lines,  but 
they  were  defeated,  with  a  loss  of  500  men. 

Up  to  this  time,  no  tidings  had  come  from  either  Johnson  or 
Amherst,  although  the  French  were  well  informed  of  what  had 
transpired  in  the  various  theaters  of  the  war,  and  an  event  soon 
took  place  which  brought  this  information  to  Wolfe.  At  Chum- 
baud,  a  short  distance  up  the  river,  the  French  had  a  magazine, 
defended  by  a  small  body  of  soldiers.  Gen.  Murray  was  sent 
to  capture  it,  which  being  effected,  the  prisoners  taken  gave  the 
first  news  to  Wolfe  of  the  success  of  the  English  arms  at  Niag- 
ara and  Lake  Champlain.  The  season,  however,  was  so  far  ad- 
vanced that  no  hopes  could  be  entertained  of  assistance  from 
either  Amherst  or  Johnson,  and,  smarting  under  the  sting  of 
defeat  on  the  banks  of  the  Montmorenci,  he  wrote  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  informing  him  of  his  defeat  and  of  the  difliculties 
in  the  way  of  taking  Quebec.  A  council  of  war  was  called  on 
the  3d  of  September,  and  by  its  deliberations  it  was  resolved  to 
transfer  the  operations  against  Quebec  from  the  Montmorenci  to 
the  banks  of  the  river  above  the  town.  The  ill  success  which 
had  thus  far  attended  the  enterprise  had  wrought  upon  tlie  mind 
of- Woife  till  he  was  prostrate  on  a  bed  of  sickness;  and,  while 
in  this  situation.  Generals  Murray,  Monckton,  and  Townsend, 
whom  he  had  asked  to   propose   some   new  plan  of  operations^ 

•  Until  1854,  the  British  Museum  was  the  custodian  of  Stobo's  letters  and  man- 
uscript memoirs,  and  it  was  from  Hume's  letter  to  Smollet  that  the  editor  who  first 
published  the  substance  of  them,  became  aware  of  their  importance.  The  narra 
tive  was  at  that  time  published  in  Pittsburgh,  from  which  this  account  is  taken. 


The  English  gain  the  Heights  of  Abraham.  lOT 

suggested  an  attack  from  the  Heights  of  Abraham,*  in  the  rear 
of  the  city,  possession  of  which  was  to  be  gained  under  cover 
of  night*  V/olfe  consented,  though  difficulties  apparently  insur- 
mountable, stood  in  the  way.  The  ascent  up  the  rugged  bluffs 
was  almost  perpendicular  and  their  sunuuits  guarded  by  French 
sentinels;  yet  the  desperate  character  of  the  enterprise,  by  dis- 
pelling suspicion  from  the  French,  might  assure  success,  and  or- 
ders were  given  for  its  execution.  On  the  12th  of  September, 
the  English  fleet  moved  up  the  river,  several  miles  above  the 
spot  where  the  river  bank  was  to  be  ascended.  At  midnight  the 
small  boats  were  lowered,  5000  soldiers  stepped  into  them  from 
the  vessels,  and  silently  floated  down  the  current,  lying  close  to 
the  north  bank.  Several  French  sentinels  had  to  be  passed,  but 
fortunately  a  Scotch  officer  among  them  understood  the  French 
language,  and,  when  challenged,  disarmed  their  suspicions  by 
appropriate  replies  in  good  French.  To  the  last  challenge  thua- 
made,  the  Scotch  officer's  ingenuity  in  his  reply  was  fully  up  to 
the  demands  of  the  critical  occasion,  he  having  cut  oft'  further 
inquiry  by  enjoining  silence  lest  the  English  should  overhear 
them.  By  the  last  packet  which  came  from  England,  a  cop}^  of 
Gray's  Elegy,  which  had  recently  been  published,  was  sent  to 
Wolfe.  Deeply  impressed  with  its  poetic  beauty,  while  silently 
floating  down  stream  to  the  covef  from  which  the  army  were  to 
scale  the  bank,  he  repeated  to  his  companions  one  of  its  lines — 

••The  path  of  glory  leads  but  to  the  grave." 

"Now,  gentlemen,  I  would  rather  be  the  author  of  that  poem 
than  take  Quebec,"  said  he.  "  Perhaps  the  noblest  tribute  ever 
paid  by  arras  to  letters,  since  that  heroic  era  when  hostile  fury 
and  havoc  were  remedied  or  intercepted  by  respect  for  the  gen- 
ius of  Aristotle,  and  for  the  poetry  of  Pindar  and  Euripides.":}: 
About  an  hour  before  daybreak,  Wolfe  was  among  the  first  to 
leap  ashore,  when,  turning  his  eyes  upward  to  the  shelving  bank, 
he  observed  to  an  officer  near  him :  *'  I  doubt  if  you  can  get  up, 
but  you  must  do  what  you  can."  Col.  Howe,  brother  to  him 
killed  si  Ticonderoga,  led  the  u  ay  at  tiie  head  of  the  Highland- 
ers, and  the  whole  army  followed  by  a  narrow  path  up  the  cliff, 
sometimes  laying  hold  of  the  young  shrubbery  to  facilitate  the 
steep  ascent.  When  the  entire  army  had  reached  the  summit, 
it  was  broad  daylight. 

The  astonished  French  sentinels  quickly  conveyed  the  inform- 
ation to  Montcalm.  At  first,  he  would  not  believe  it,  but  sup- 
posed the  movement  to  be  only  a  feint  to  distract  his  attention 
from  the  banks  of  the   Montmorenci,  where  the  real  attack  wa* 

*  Graham's  Colonial  History,  vol.  IV.,  p.  49. 
t  This  has  ever  since  been  called  Wolfe's  Cove. 
j  Grahai» 


108  Wolfe^s  Victory  and  Death. 

to  be  made.  Farther  observation,  however,  soon  dispelled  this 
illusion,  and  he  quit  his  camp,  crossed  the  St.  Charles,  and  bold- 
ly advanced  to  meet  Wolfe  and  decide  the  fate  of  New  France 
on  the  battle-field. 

At  nine  o'clock,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1759,  13,000 
French  soldiers  stood  on  an  elevated  plateau,  facing  5000  Eng- 
lish soldiers.  Not  a  ditch — not  a  ravine — not  a  hill,  valley,  or 
tree  was  there  between  them,  to  intercept  the  mortal  tornado 
about  to  roll  into  the  unprotected  ranks  of  both  armies. 

No  human  vision  could  pierce  the  future  and  bring  to  light  the 
issue  depending  on  the  result  of  the  battle.  If  the  French  arms 
had  triumphed,  the  English  must  have  fallen  into  their  hands  as 
prisoners,  and  Quebec  have  been  reinforced  long  before  the  ar- 
mies of  Amherst  and  Johnson  could  have  reached  the  place,  and 
the  French  would  have  retained  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  triumph  of  the  English  arms  was  des- 
tined to  lead  to  events  which,  if  then  foreseen,  would  have  dis- 
tracted the  English  army  between  contenciijjg  emotions  of  loyalty 
and  self-protection ;  for  on  the  result  of  this  battle  hung  the  des- 
tiny of  a  nation  yet  in  her  germ-cell — America. 

Montcalm  advanced  to  the  conflict  and  commenced  the  fire. 
The  Engl.'sh  waited  till  but  forty  rods  intervened  between  them- 
selves and  the  advancing  French ;  the  order  to  fire  was  then  giv- 
€n,  and  Irom  their  whole  front  a  tempest  of  shot  flew  into  the 
ranks  of  the  French,  directed  by  the  aim  of  veterans.  The 
French  never  recovered  from  the  shock.  It  was  impossible  to 
fill  up  the  gaps  made  in  their  front  ranks.  They  attempted  to 
rally,  but  their  lines  wavered  before  the  deadly  aim  of  the  Eng- 
lish, till  they  fled  from  the  field,  pursued  by  the  Highlanders 
with  broadswords. 

Early  in  tlie  action,  Wolfe  had  been  wounded  in  the  arm,  but 
bandaged  it  with  his  handkerchief.  Soon  afterward  he  received 
a  shot  in  his  groin,  but,  concealing  the  wound,  still  pushed  on 
his  men,  when  a  third  shot  brought  him  down.  The  command 
now  fell  on  Monckton,  who  soon  fell  wounded,  when  Gen. 
Townsend  took  his  place. 

Montcalm  was  mortally  wounded,  and  nearly  a  thousand  of 
his  men  had  fallen,  either  killed  or  wounded.  Death  spared 
Wolfe  till  the  shouts  of  victory  ran  through  his  lines — "They 
run!  they  run!"  "Who  run?"  cried  the  dying  man.  "The 
French!"  replied  the  officer  on  whose  breast  he  was  leaning. 
"Then  I  die  happy !"  said  Wolfe,  and  ceased  to  breathe. 

Montcalm  died  the  next  day.  The  two  commanders  were 
buried  beside  each  other,  on  the  field  where  they  had  fought  one 
of  the  decisive  battles  of  the  world. 

A  third  of  Quebec  had  been  burned  by  the  fire  of  the  English 
fleet.     Gaiety  and  wretchedness  were  indiscriminately  huddled 


Canada  and  the  West  given  up  to  the  English.         lOD 

together  in  squalid  tenements;    but  still  they  must  pack  closer 
yet.     The  50U0  English  soldiers,  less  the  lit'ty  killed  in  the  bat- 
tle, must   have  room,  and  the  500  wounded    soldiers  must  have 
lint  and  gruel  prepared  for  them.     These  knotty  problems  were 
soon  solved  by  the  stern   decrees  of  war,  by  which  the  city  had 
been  given  up  to  the  English.     A  recoil  from   the   harshness 
of  these  decrees,  however,  now  spread  a  luster  over  the  scene. 
A  mutual  spirit  of  conciliation  was  moulded  in  every  face.    Eng 
lish  and  French  vied  with  each  other  to  assuage  the  calamities 
of  tv^ar.     The  priests  no  longer  prayed  fur  the   success  of  the 
French,  or,  if  they  did,  the  English  cared  little  as  long  as  the 
ensign  of  St.  George  waved  from  the  watch  towers,  and  the  ut 
most  freedom  in  religious  matters  was  granted — mere  trifles  in 
the  estimation  of  the  conquerors  compared  to  the  great  ques- 
tion at  issue. 

The  fugitives  of  Montcalm's  army  had  fled  to  Montreal,  where 
a  force  fully  ten  thousand  strong  represented  the  forlorn  hope  of 
New  France. 

Spring  came.  The  snowdrifts  of  the  St.  Lawrence  had  melted 
into  its  turbulent  current,  bearing  alongits  swollen  waters  releas- 
ed gorges  of  ice.  While  gazing  at  these,  one  day,  the  English 
sailors  espied  a  man  lying  prostrate  on  one  of  them.  The  yawl 
was  lowered,  and  the  victim  rescued  from  his  perilous  position, 
almost  insensible  from  exhaustion  and  cold.  When  restored,  he 
informed  his  new  friends  that  he  had  fallen  overboard  from  the 
French  fleet,  and,  when  questioned  as  to  their  movements,  he 
gave  such  information  as  gave  Gen.  Murray  no  room  to  doubt 
that  the  French  were  about  to  make  a  descent  on  Quebec* 
Preparations  were  immediately  made  to  meet  the  unexpected 
blow.  One  thousand  of  Murray's  men  had  died  with  the  scurvy, 
as  many  more  were  in  the  hospital,  and  he  had  but  3000  left. 
The  attack  soon  came,  10,000  strong.  A  battle  ensued,  in  which 
the  English  were  partially  defeated,  but  managed  to  retain  their 
position  till  news  came  that  an  English  fleet  was  sailing  up  the 
St.  Lawrence,  when  the  French  retreated,  ^y  a  chance,  this 
Euglish  fleet  gained  the  mouth  of  the  river  ahead  of  a  French 
fleet  destined  for  the  same  theater.  A  few  months  later,  the 
English  armies,  under  Gen.  Amherst  and  Gen.  Haviland,  ap- 
peared before  Montreal.  The  place  surrendered,  and  Vaudreuil, 
the  governor,  gave  up  Canada  and  the  West  to  the  English, 
September  8th.  1760.  The  war  still  raged  on  the  Continent,  and 
it  was  not  till  February  10th,  1763,  that  the  definitive  treaty  was 
signed  at  Paris.  By  its  stipulations,  everything  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  as  far  south  as  the  southern  limits  of  Georgia,  was 
ceded  to  the  Euglish. 


•Raynal,  vol.  VII.,  p.  124. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

jRogera  sent  hy  Gen.  Amherst  to  take  Possession  of  Detroit — 
He  meets  Pontiac  on  the  way — Holds  a  Colloquy  with  him — 
Detroit  garr'isoned  hy  the  English^  imder  Capt.  Campbell 
— Discontent  of  the  Indians — Alexander  Henry  arrives  at 
Michilim.ackinac — Conspiracy  to  drive  the  English  out  of  the 
Country — Detroit  saved  from  Massacre  hy  an  Ojihway  Girl 
— Is  Besieged — Massacre  at  Michilimackinac — Narroio  Es- 
cape of  Alexander  Henry — St.  Joseph.,  Ouatanon,  Miami, 
and  Sandtcsky  taken  hy  the  Indians — Capture  of  the  Batteau 
Fleet  sent  to  Succor  Detroit — Horrible  Massacre  of  the  Sol- 
diers— Detroit  Pelieved — Arrival  of  Capt.  Dalzell — His 
Disastrous  Sortie — Desperate  Defense  of  a  Vessel  loaded 
with  Supplies — Pontiac  retires  to  the  Maumee  Bapids. 

The  French  and  Indian  war  began  on  the  question  as  to  who 
should  own  a  bit  of  wild  land  drained  by  the  tributary  sources 
of  the  Ohio. 

The  English  went  into  it  with  tardiness,  and  the  Americans, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Virginia  colony,  with  apathy ;  not 
from  any  indisposition  to  sustain  the  national  honor,  for  there 
was  no  such  issue  in  the  question.  Each  colony  held  its  own 
respective  territory,  and  could  hardly  be  expected  to  light  for 
more,  not  knowing  who  might  possess  the  prize  if  won. 

What  had  given  the  Virginia  colony  so  deep  an  interest  in  the 
question,  was  the  munificent  donations  of  the  lands  on  the  Ohio 
to  her  subjects  from  the  king.  The  recipients  of  these  favors 
were  the  Ohio  Company,  prominent  among  whom  were  the 
Washington  brothers,  and  this  company  had  taken  the  first  steps 
in  the  war  by  commencing  the  little  fort  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio, 
under  Trent. 

George  Washington  struck  the  first  hostile  blow  when  he  at- 
tacked .fumonville.  Never  in  the  records  of  nations  did  a  great- 
er result  grow  out  of  an  issue  so  apparently  small.  The  raai^ni- 
tude  of  the  prize  was  an  elephant  on  the  hands  of  th'^  victors. 

To  the  west  were  the  forests  north  of  the  Oliio  river,  enriched 
by  a  thousand  autumnal  dressings  of  leaf-mould,  through  which 
unnumbered  rivers  and  streamlets  took  their  courses  along  val- 


Rogers'  Expedition  to  Detroit.  1 1 1 

leys  of  alluvium.  Beyond  these  were  oceans  of  prairie,  luxuri- 
ant in  grasses  harvested  each  year  only  by  the  annual  tires  that 
swept  over  thera. 

With  the  exception  of  the  few  French  settlements  mentioned 
in  previous  chapters,  this  immense  country  was  a  majestic  waste, 
tenanted  by  perhaps  one  hundred  thousand  Indians.  Most  of 
these  had  always  been  the  allies  of  the  French,  but  such  as  were 
not  had  been  forced  into  their  friendship  by  the  war.  Now  ev- 
erything was  changed.  To  the  English  they  must  look  for  a 
supply  of  such  goods  as  the  elements  of  civilization  had  taught 
them  the  use  of,  and  without  which  it  was  difficult  to  subsist. 
The  trade  in  these  articles,  with  furs  in  exchange,  was  now  to  go 
into  the  hands  of  the  English ;  but  the  first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  take  possession  of  such  French  forts  as  had  not  been 
taken  by  force  during  the  war. 

These  were  Detnnt,  Sandusky,  Michilimackinac,  St.  Joseph, 
Green  Bay.  the  cluster  of  French  villages  in  the  Southern  Illi- 
nois country,  Yincennes  and  Ouatanon  on  the  Wabash,  and  Ft. 
Miami  on  the  Maumee,  close  by  the  spot  where  Ft.  Wayne  was 
subsequently  built ;  the  whole  containing  a  population  not  ex- 
ceeding 6000  French  inhabitants. 

On  the  13th  of  September,  1760,  three  days  after  the  surren- 
der of  Montreal,  Major  Robert  Rogers  was  despatched  by  Gen. 
Amherst  on  this  mission,*  with  a  force  of  200  chosen  men,  in 
fifteen  whale-boats.  His  orders  were  to  proceed  to  Ft.  Niagara, 
where  Maj.  Walters,  the  connnunder,  was  to  deliver  into  his  cus- 
tody a  Mr.  Gainelin,t  a  French  prisoner  taken  at  the  surrender 
of  that  post.  He  was  then  to  proceed  to  Presque  Isle,  and  from 
thence,  with  a  small  force,  across  the  country  to  Ft.  Pitt,  then 
under  the  command  of  Gen.  Monckton. 

From  him  he  was  to  receive  such  assistance  as  was  necessary 
in  the  execution  of  the  work  before  him,  which  was  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  posts  of  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac,  and  admin- 
ister the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  inhabitants.  This  done,  he 
was  to  return  with  his  force  to  Albany,  or  wher:ver  the  head- 
quarters of  the  commanding  general  might  be  at  that  time.  Ar- 
riving at  Presque  Isle  on  the  8tli  of  October,  in  accordance  with 
these  instructions,  he  left  his  command,  and,  with  only  three 
companions,  pursued  the  well-known  French  trail  to  Ft.  Pitt, 
where  he  was   reinforced  by  a  detachment  of  Royal  Americans. 

•  Rogers  had  served  during  the  war  in  the  capacity  of  a  Ranger.  His  field  had 
been  on  the  frontier  between  Albany  and  the  French  forts  on  Lake  Champlain, 
where  his  daring  exploits  at  the  head  of  his  chosen  band  of  New  Hampshire  pro- 
vincials, were  the  admiration  of  both  friend  and  foe.  He  kept  a  journal  of  his 
adventures  and  wrote  a  book  entitled  "  Concise  Account  of  North  America," 
published  in  London  in  1765,  which  forms  the  basis  of  this  account. 

t  Mr.  Gamelin  subsequently  became  a  resident  of  Vincennes,  and  acted  as  me- 
diatoi  between  the  Americans  and  Indians. 


1 1 2  Pontiac  Interviews  Him. 

under  Capt.  Campbell.  Returning  to  Fresque  Isle,  lie  received 
forty  oxen  from  Col.  Bryant,  under  charge  of  Capt,  Monter, 
who,  with  the  assistance  of  twenty  Indians,  was  to  drive  them 
to  Detroit,  for  the  subsistence  of  the  soldiers.  About  tlie  tirst 
of  November,  the  whole  command  embarked  in  their  boats  from 
Presque  Isle,  It  was  an  English  delegation,  composed  of  Amer- 
icans, whose  superior  qualifications  for  such  a  dangerous  adven- 
ture were  apparent  to  Gen.  Amherst. 

The  western  Indians  had  never  before  seen  any  other  than 
Frenchmen,  unless  perchance  some  of  them  had  been  in  battle- 
array  against  them  on  the  bloody  fields  of  the  late  war.  As  yet, 
the  English  flag  had  been  saluted  with  yells  of  approbation  by 
all  the  Indians  they  had  met ;  but  these  first  ebullitions  of  ap- 
plause from  the  red  frontierers  might  prove  but  a  snare  to  lull 
them  into  a  fatal  security  when  the  interior  was  reached.  But 
Rogers,  bred  among  the  wiles  of  frontier  warfare,  had  measured 
its  depths  of  dissimulation,  and  he  was  ready  for  any  emergency. 

"While  he  is  penetrating  the  country  along  the  southern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie  in  his  little  fleet  of  whale-boats,  in  his  advanced 

£ath  a  savage  hero  lay,  ruminating  in  his  mind  how  to  receive 
im.  This  was  Fontiac,  chief  of  ^he  Ottawas.  He  was  yet  in 
the  heyday  of  youth  and  strength,  but  a  veteran  in  bush-fighting 
warfare.  He  had  made  himself  conspicuous  among  the  subtle 
spirits  who  had  overwhelmed  Braddock  on  the  Monongahela. 
He  had  ever  since  been  in  the  van  of  the  war-path  against  the 
English,  and  his  achievements  had  won  for  him  a  singular  dis- 
tinction, which,  by  common  consent,  made  him  the  acknowledg- 
ed chief,  not  only  of  his  own  tribe,  but  of  all  the  surrounding 
tribes,  who  looked  up  to  him  as  their  Moses.  His  summer  res- 
idence was  on  Fechu  Island,  eight  miles  above  Detroit,  and  in 
the  winter  he  lodged  in  the  Ottawa  village  opposite,  on  the  Cana- 
dian shore.*  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  advance  of  the  Eng- 
lish into  the  country,  he  hastened,  with  a  few  of  his  attendants, 
to  meet  them.  The  first  interview  was  held  November  7th,  on 
the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  at  its  western  extremity.  Here 
Rogers,  having  entered  the  mouth  of  a  small  stream,  moored 
his  boats  and  encamped.  An  Indian  deputation;  b^on  waited  on 
him,  requesting  him  to  proceed  no  farther  till  Fontiac,  the  king 
of  the  country,  came  up.  Shortly  afterward  he  came,  and,  at 
the  first  salutation,  demanded  how  he  dared  to  enter  the  country 
without  his  permission.  In  reply,  Rogers  informed  him  (^with 
naive  respect  and  dignity  combined)  that  he  had  come,  not  to 
injure  the  Indians,  but  to  remove  the  French  soldiers  of  the 
country,  who  had  hitherto  been  an  obstacle  to  peace  between 
the  Indians  and  the  English.     This  answer  disarmed  the  chief 

*Laninan's  Hist,  of  Mich.,  p.  91. 


Pontiac  Conciliated.  H3 

and  modified  his  demeanor  at  once.  Rogers  next  proceeded^  to 
inform  him  of  the  surrender  of  Canada  to  the  English,  which 
was  news  to  Pontiac,  though  perliaps  not  unexpected  from  the 
ill  success  of  the  French  since  the  lall  of  Niagara  and  Quebec 
several  months  before. 

On  leaving,  he  told  Rogers  that  if  he  needed  anything  liis 
country  could  supply,  he  would  send  his  warriors  fir  it.  He 
then  took  his  leave,  requesting  Rogers  not  to  advance  farther 
till  a  council  should  be  held  the  next  morning.  This  opened  as 
proposed — the  peace-pipe  was  smoked,  and  Pontiac  p/oinised  to 
protect  Rogers  on  his  way  to  Detroit.  This  promise  he  kept  in 
good  jfaith.  Had  he  not  done  this,  Rogers  could  not  have  reach- 
ed the  place  without  a  battle  with  the  Indians,  who,  in  heavy 
force,  stood  guard  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  to  prevent  his  pas- 
sage. To  these  Pontiac  gave  orders  to  let  the  English  pass  un- 
molested, and,  at  the  same  time,  ordered  some  of  his  men  to 
assist  Capt.  Brewer  along  with  the  oxen  driven  from  Prescjuo 
Isle,  oesides  this  act  ot  courtesy,  he  manifested  a  disposition 
to  learn  the  elements  of  civilization,  asking  Rogers  about  the 
English  method  of  disciplining  their  forces,  and  even  inquired 
how  cloth  and  iron  were  made,  and  oflfered  to  give  him  a  part  of 
the  country  if  he  would  take  him  to  England  on  a  visit.  This 
ofier  was  accompanied  with  the  conciliatory  proposal  of  paying 
an  annual  tribute  to  the  king  of  England  and  calling  him  his  un- 
cle. These  were  the  terms  on  which  the  English  might  be  per- 
mitted to  settle  in  the  ccnmtry  and  remain  as  long  as  they  treated 
the  Indians  with  respect.  If  they  failed  to  do  this,  he  should 
drive  them  out  and  "shut  up  the  door."* 

Rogers  now  resiyiied  his  march  toward  Detroit,  taking  care  to 
send  Lieut.  Brheme,  a  French  war  prisoner,  in  advance,  with 
the  following  letter  to  Capt.  Bellestre,  the  French  commander: 

*'  To  Capt.  Bellestre^  or  the  Officer  Commanding  at  Detroit. 

"Sir: — That  j'ou  may  not  be  alarmed  at  the  a])proach  of  the 
English  troops  under  my  command  when  I  come  to  Detroit,  I 
send  forward  this  by  Lieut.  Brheme,  to  acquaint  you  that  I  have 
Gen.  Amherst's  orders  to  take  possession  of  Detroit  and  such 
other  posts  as  are  in  that  district ;  which,  by  capitulation,  agreed 
to  and  signed  by  Marquis  de  Vaudieuil  and  Gen.  Amherst,  the 
8tli  of  September  last,  now  belong  to  Great  Britain.  I  have 
with  me  the  Marquis  do  Vaudreuil's  letters  to  you,  directed  for 
your  guidance  on  tiiis  occasion ;  which  letters  1  shall  deliver  to 
you  when  I  am  at  or  near  your  post,  and  sliall  encamp  the  troops 
I  have  with  me  at  some  distance  from  the  fort,  till  you  have  rea- 
sonable time  to  be  made   acquainted  with  the  Marquis  de  Vau- 

•  Concise  Account 


114  Device  of  the  Crow. 

dreuil's  instructions  and  the  capitulation,  a  copy  of  which  I  have 
with  me  likewise.  I  am,  Sir, 

"  Yonr  humble  servant, 

"  KOBEET  EOGESS.''* 

Continuing  to  advance,  Kogers  met  a  squad  of  Hurons,  from 
whom  he  learned  that  Bellestre  had  detained  the  messenger  sent 
with  his  letter,  and  intended  to  oppose  his  entrance  into  the 
town. 

In  order  to  arouse  a  spirit  of  resistance  among  the  Indians,  he 
had  erected  on  a  pole  an  effigy  of  Rogers,  with  a  crow  pecking 
pis  eyes  out,  as  an  emblem  of  the  fate  in  store  for  him  if  he  at- 
tempted to  enter  Detroit ;  but  tlie  Indians  were  skeptical  as  to 
such  a  result,  and,  notwithstanding  the  shallow  device,  accepted 
the  wampum  belt  from  Rogers,  who  represented,  in  their  estim- 
ation, and  correctly,  too,  the  rising  star  of  power,  to  whom  they 
must  now  look  for  favors. 

The  impossibility  of  holding  the  town  against  the  English  soon 
became  evident  to  the  French  commander,  and  he  began  to  con- 
ciliate. First,  he  despatched  a  messenger  to  Rogers  with  a  let- 
ter, to  inform  him  that  he  had  put  the  inhabitants,  and  particu- 
larly the  Indians,  on  their  guard  to  prevent  being  plundered  by 
the  Indians  who  had  joined  the  standard  of  the  English,  and 
also  to  presei've  the  English  themselves  from  a  like  disaster 
when  government  of  the  town  should  change  from  French  to 
English  hands.     Rogers  replied  as  follows : 

"Sir: — I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  two  letters,  both 
of  which  were  delivered  to  me  on  yesterday.  Mr.  Brhenie  has 
not  3'et  returned.  The  inclosed  letter  from  the  Marquis  de  Vau- 
drenil  will  inform  you  of  the  surrender  of  all  Canada  to  the  king 
of  Great  Britain,  and  of  the  great  indulgence  granted  to  the  in- 
habitants ;  as  also  of  the  terms  granted  to  the  troops  of  his  Most 
Christian  Majesty.  Capt.  Campbell,  whom  I  have  sent  forward 
with  this  letter,  will  show  you  the  capitulation.  I  desire  you 
will  not  detain  him,  as  I  am  determined,  agreeable  to  my  in- 
structions from  Gen.  Amherst,  speedily  to  relieve  your  post.  I 
shall  stop  the  troops  I  have  with  me  at  the  hither  end  of  the 
town  till  four  o'clock,  by  which  time  I  expect  your  answer. 
Tour  inhabitants  will  not  surprise  me ;  as  yet  1  have  seen  no 
other  in  that  position,  but  savages  waiting  for  my  orders.  I  can 
assure  you,  Sir,  the  inhabitants  of  Detroit  shall  not  be  molested 
— they  and  you  complying  with  the  capitulation,  but  be  protect- 
ed in  the  quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of  their  estates;  neither 
shall  they  be  pillaged  by  my  Indians,  nor  by  yours  that  have 
joined  me.  I  am,  (&c., 

"R.  RoasBS. 

*'To  Capt.  Bellestre,  commanding  at  Detroit." 


Detroit  under  the  English  Flag.  1 15 

Having  despatched  this  letter,  without  waiting  a  reply,  Rogers 
pnshed  his  boats  up  the  river,  and  landed  within  half  a  mile  of 
the  place.  Here  a  messenger  soon  came  to  him  from  Bellestre, 
with  his  compliments,  signifying  that  he  awaited  his  orders. 
Lieuts.  Lefflie  and  M'Cormick  were  now  sent  with  36  American 
iroops  to  take  possession  of  Detroit. 

The  first  item  in  the  formula  was  to  lower  the  French  flag  and 
devate  the  English  flag  in  its  place.  This  was  done,  and  a  burst 
of  riotous  applause  rent  the  air  from  the  gutteral  voices  of  700 
Indians,  while  the  French  beheld  the  humiliation  with  silent  and 
painful  emotions,  such  as  have  never  yet  been  felt  in  the  breast 
of  an  American  citizen. 

It  was  now  the  29th  of  November,  and  Rogers,  with  his  accus- 
tomed promptness,  set  about  the  execution  of  his  still  unfinished 
work.  The  French  militia  were  disarmed  and  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance administered  to  them.  The  regular  soldiers,  with  their 
commander,  Bellestre,  were  sent  as  prif^oners  of  war  to  Phila- 
delphia, under  the  escort  of  Lieut.  Holmes  and  thirty  men. 

A  party  of  20  men  were  sent  to  take  possession  of  the  posts 
of  Ouatanon,*  on  t^io  head-waters  of  the  Wabash  and  Miami,  at 
the  bend  of  the  Mauraee.  These  had  been  the  extremes  of  ca- 
noe navigation  on  the  two  rivers — a  portage  connecting  them  by 
a  well-frequented  Indian  trail,  which  had  been  in  existence  from 
time  immemorial.  After  the  French  had  settled  at  Vincennes, 
this  thoroughfare  to  the  lakes  became  an  important  one  to  them ; 
hence  the  erectioTi  of  the  post  of  Ouatanon,  at  the  head  of  canoe 
navigation  on  this  stream.  Ft.  JMiami  was  also  designed  to  fa- 
cilitate the  same  end.f  and  its  early  possession  by  the  English 
was  necessary,  in  order  to  command  the  respect  of  the  Indians 
and  establish  the  fur  trade  among  them  along  their  highway  to 
the  lakes. 

Capt.  Campbell  was  now  left  in  command  of  Detroit,  while 
Rogers,  with  a  small  force,  started  toward  Michilimackinac  to 
establish  the  English  standard  at  that  important  post.  After  a 
vain  attempt  to  force  his  way  along  the  icy  and  boisterous  shore 
of  Lake  Huron,  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  Detroit,  and,  on  the 
'ilst  of  December,  started  with  a  few  attendants  across  the  coun- 
try to  Ft.  Pitt,  arriving  there  on  the  23d  of  January,  1761.  He 
passed  through  Sandusky  on  his  way,  says  Perkins'  Western 
Annals  (p.  Ill),  but  does  not  inform  us  whether  he  left  a  garri- 

•  Rogers  called  this  Gatanois  in  his  Journal,  p.  229. 

t  According  to  Brice's  History  of  Fort  Wayne,  p.  12,  Ft.  Miami  was  built  in 
'733  Volney,  in  his  Researches,  dates  the  building  of  Vincennes  in  1735  ;  but 
Law's  date  of  1710  is  more  consistent  with  1733  as  the  date  of  Miami.  Ft.  Oua- 
tanon prn1)ably  bears  a  similar  date.  Late  researches  by  H.  W.  IBeckwHh,  of  Dan- 
ville, 111.,  show  that  it  was  built  on  the  west  side  of  the'Wabash,  instead  of  ;he  east, 
ji-.  indicated  by  the  current  histories.  "  It  is  pronounced  We-au  ta-non. 


11  (i  MichiLhnackinac^  etc.,  taken  Possession  of. 

*  son  there  or  not.     The  next  summer,  Michilimackinac,  Ste.  Ma- 

rie, at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Superior,  Green  Bay,  and  St.  Joseph, 
were  taken  peaceable  possession  of  by  a  detachment  sent  frona 
Detroit  by  Capt.  Campbell.  The  French  towns  of  Southern 
Illinois  and  Vincenneson  the  Wabash,  had  hitherto  been  disturb- 
ed only  by  war's  alarms  from  afar.  Their  country  hud  changed 
from  French  to  Ei)glish  rule,  but  distance  had  yet  and  was  still 
destined  to  give  them  a  few  more  years  under  the  lilies  of  France, 
though  severed  from  the  parent  stem  by  the  tornado  of  war,  like 
a  limb  of  a  tree  broken  from  the  trunk. 

The  Indians  had  always  loved  the  French,  because  they  met 
them  on  terms  of  social  equality.  Their  ideas  of  chivalry 
were  well  suited  to  the  savage  imagination.  Both  were  dashing 
and  impetuous.  A  liberal  sprinkling  of  blanched  cheeks,  whose 
mothers  were  the  honored  wives  of  Frenchmen,  were  so  many 
pledges  of  that  friendship  which  forest-life  had  charmed  into  be- 
ing. Before  the  Anglo-Americans  and  English  had  set  foot  into 
the  great  West,  the  French  had  been  there  a  century,  and,  in- 
stead of  attempting  to  deprive  them  of  their  lands,  had  (^ften 
held  out  inducements  to  them  to  amalgamate  the  two  races  and 
inherit  the  country  together.  This  course  made  any  especial 
promise  of  friendship  unnecessary,  or,  if  made,  gave  it  consist- 
ency. 

During  the  French  and  Indian  war,  both  sides  had  vied  with 
each  other  in  their  excess  of  zeal  to  preserve  the  rights  of  the  In- 
dians. Unhappily  for  them,  the  side  tliey  had  taken  had  been 
beaten,  and  now  their  first  care  was  to  set  themselves  right  be- 
fore the  conquerors,  which  accounts  for  Pontiac's  assistance  to 
Rogers  in  conducting  him  safely  to  Detroit.  But  beneath  this 
friendly  exterior  there  lurked,  at  least,  doubt  and  misgiving,  if 
not  feelings  of  deadly  hate. 

The  English,  on  their  part,  had  formed  too  low  an  estimate 
of  the  ability  of  the  Indians  to  oppose  them,  in  the  event  of  hos- 
tilities. They  had  conquered  them  and  the  French  combined, 
and  the  savage,  single-handed,  was  but  a  pigmy  in  their  estima- 
tion. 

Under  this  impression,  the  English  fur-traders  hastened  for- 
ward among  the  lodges  of  the  wilderness,  to  renew  the  trade 
begun  before  the  war,  and  appropriate  that  which  the  French 
had  hitherto  held  exclusively  along  the  lakes.  With  this  intent, 
Alexander  Henry  started  for  Michilimackinac  early  in  the  spring 
succeeding  the  English  possession  of  Detroit.  Ere  he  had  reach- 
ed Detroit,  ho  witnessed  abundant  signs  of  discontent  among  the 
Indians. 

No  pains  had  been  taken  by  the  English  or  Americans  to  win 
their  favor  by  means  of  presents  or  those  fulsome  professions  of 
good  fellowship  so  essential  to  fill  the  measure  of  savage  eti- 


Warning  to  tlie  English.  117 

quette.  But  these  omissions  were  not  the  greatest  cause  of  com- 
plaint. Blows  had  been  inflicted  on  some  of  the  Ottawas  at  a 
trading  station,  by  some  indiscreet  traders,*  for  which  indignity 
retaliation  was  only  deferred.  In  consequence  of  these  causes 
of  disaffection,  Henry  was  obliged  to  make  his  way  from  Detroit 
to  Michi'imacVinac  in  the  disguise  of  French  costume.  Having 
reached  his  destination,  he  was  soon  waited  upon  by  a  tenacious 
advocate  of  Indian  riglits,  supposed  to  be  Pontiac  himself,  who 
addressed  him  the  following  terse  word§ : 

"  Englishmen,  you  know  that  the  French  king  is  our  father. 
He  promised  to  be  such,  and  we  in  return  promised  to  be  his 
children.     This  promise  we  have  kept. 

"  Englishmen,  it  is  you  that  have  made  war  with  this  our  fath- 
er. You  are  his  enemy  ;  and  how  then  could  you  have  the  bold- 
ness to  venture  among  us,  his  children  ?  You  know  that  his 
enemies  are  ours. 

"Englishmen,  we  are  informed  that  our  father,  the  king  of 
France,  is  old  and  infirm ;  and  that,  being  fatigued  with  making 
war  upon  your  nation,  he  has  fallen  asleep.  During  this  sleep, 
you  have  taken  advantage  of  him,  and  possessed  yourselves  of 
Oanada.  But  his  nap  is  almost  at  an  end.  I  think  I  hear  him 
already  stirring  and  inquiring  for  his  children  the  Indians ;  and 
when  he  does  awake,  what  must  become  of  you?  He  will  de- 
stroy you  utterly. 

"  Englishmen,  although  you  have  conquered  the  French,  you 
iiavo  not  yet  conquered  us.  We  are  not  your  slaves.  These 
lakes,  these  woods  and  mountains,  are  left  to  us  by  our  ances- 
tors. They  are  our  inheritance,  and  we  will  part  with  them  to 
none.  Your  nation  supposes  that  we,  like  the  white  people, 
cannot  live  without  bread,  and  pork,  and  beef;  but  you  oughf 
to  know  that  He,  the  Great  Spirit  and  Master  of  Life,  has  pro- 
vided food  for  us  in  these  spacious  lakes  and  on  these  woody 
mountains. 

"Englishmen,  our  father,  the  king  of  France,  employed  oa 
young  men  to  make  war  upon  your  nation.  In  this  warfare  ma- 
ny of  them  have  been  killed,  atid  it  is  our  custom  to  retaliate 
until  such  time  as  the  spirits  of  the  slain  are  satisfied.  But  tho 
spirits  of  tlie  slain  are  to  be  satisfied  in  either  of  two  ways :  the 
first  is,  by  the  spilling  the  blood  of  the  nation  by  which  they 
fell ;  the  other,  by  covering  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  thus 
allaying  the  resentment  of  their  relations.  This  is  done  by  mak- 
ing ])resents. 

"Englishmen,  your  king  has  never  sent  us  any  presents,  nor 
entered  into  any  treaty  with  us  ;  wherefore  he  and  we  are  still  at 
war;  and  until  he  does  these  tilings,  we  must  consider  that  we 

*  Cass' Discourse  ;  Rogers' Account. 


1 18  Indian  Conspiracy. 

have  no  o\\\tc  father  or  friend  among  the  white  men  than  the 
king  of  France.  But  for  you,  we  have  taken  into  consideration 
that  you  have  ventured  among  us  in  the  expectation  tliat  we 
should  not  molest  you.  You  do  not  come  armed,  with  an  inten- 
tion to  make  war.  You  come  in  peace  to  trade  with  us,  and 
supply  us  with  necessaries  of  which  we  are  in  much  want.  We 
shall  regard  you,  therefore,  as  a  brother ;  and  you  may  sleep 
tranquilly,  without  fear  of  the  Chippewas.  As  a  token  of  our 
friendship,  we  present  you  with  this  pipe  to  smoke."* 

Matters  went  on  during  the  next  two  years  with  increased  dis- 
satisfaction. Frequent  ominous  rumors  of  Indian  uprising  had 
been  current;  but  little  importance  had  been  attached  to  them, 
especially  by  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  who  still  held  military  com- 
mand of  the  whole  cr">r  >y. 

During  all  this  time,  oo  definitive  treaty  of  peace  had  been 
negotiated  between  England  and  France,  and,  through  some 
dreamy  illusion  of  the  Indians,  a  pleasing  theory  had  obtained 
currency  that  the  king  of  France  had  been  asleep,  and  the 
English  had  taken  the  advantage  of  his  slumbers  to  con- 
quer the  country — that  he  would  soon  awaken  and  utterly  de- 
stroy the  English.  Fortified  by  their  faith  in  this  visionary  hope, 
the  Indians  throughout  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio  river  and 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  conspired  with  Fontiac  to  bring 
about  this  desired  result. f 

After  these  alliances  had  been  secured,  he  plied  his  8eductiv.> 
arts  of  diplomacy  to  the  different  tribes  of  the  Iroquois,  ami 
won  over  the  Senecas  to  his  cause ;  but  the  other  five  tribes, 
owing  to  the  influence  of  Sir  WilUam  Johnson,  remained  true  to 
the  English. 

Some  of  the  French  residents,  either  through  national  pique 
to  the  English  or  personal  attachment  to  the  Indians,  were  fast 
friends  to  the  latter,  although  the  better  portion  preserved  a  neu- 
trality at  least  by  mental   reservation,  as   they  would  not  have 


*  Henry,  p.  43. 

f  Carver  relates  a  phenomenon  which,  among  the  timorous-minded  habitant* 
of  Detroit,  foretold  the  Indian  outbreak.  It  is  worth  recording  (or  its  meteorolog- 
ical merits,  if  not  its  supernatural.  It  runs  as  follows  :  *•  In  the  year  1762,  in  the 
month  of  July,  it  rained  on  this  town  and  the  parts  adjacent,  a  sulphureous  water 
of  the  color  and  consistence  of  ink  ;  some  of  which  being  collected  into  bottles 
and  wrote  with,  appeared  perfectly  intelligible  on  the  paper,  and  answered  every 
purpose  of  that  useful  liquid.  Soon  atier,  the  Indian  wars,  already  spoken  of, 
brolce  out  in  these  parts.  I  mean  not  to  say  that  this  incident  was  ominous  of 
them,  notwithstanding  it  is  well  known  that  innumerable  well  attested  instances 
of  extraordinary  phenomena  happening  before  extraordinary  events,  have  been 
recorded  in  almost  every  age  by  historians  of  veracity  ;  I  only  relate  the  circum- 
stance as  a  fact  of  which  I  was  informed  by  many  persons  of  undoubted  probity, 
and  leave  my  readers,  as  I  have  hitherto  done,  to  draw  their  own  conclusiooa 
from  it " 


French  Population  of  Detroit.  11^ 

dared  to  oppose  the  schemes  of  Pontiac,  had  they  been  informed 
of  them. 

The  Frencli  population  of  Detroit  at  that  time  occupied  about 
100  houses  in  the  town  and  50  farm-houses  along  the  river,  above 
or  below  it.*  The  walls  of  these  were  built  with  logs  and  the 
roof  covered  with  bark  or  thatched  straw.  Their  fences  were 
constructed  with  pickets.  Wheat  was  sowed  in  drills  and  culti- 
vated by  hand.  They  had  no  potatoes  till  the  English  brought 
the  seed.  Their  horses  had  been  obtained  from  Ft.  Duquesne, 
descended  from  the  English  stock  captured  from  Braddock's  de- 
feated army.f  The  Ottawas,  Wyandots,  and  Fottowattoniies, 
had  villages  close  by,  which,  with  the  French  population,  gave 
to  the  place  a  metropolitan  character,  to  which  no  other  spot  in 
the  whole  country  could  be  compared ;  consequently,  its  conquest 
was  undertaken  by  Pontiac  himself.  But,  before  the  first  blow 
was  to  be  struck,  a  council  was  convened.  This  was  summoned 
to  meet  early  in  the  spring,  on  the  banks  of  a  small  stream  near 
Detroit.  Here  were  assembled  chiefs  from  all  the  principal 
tribes  of  the  countr}',:]:  each  supposing  himself  to  be  sapient  in 
the  savage  policy  of  the  times ;  but  at  that  moment,'  could  they 
have  known  the  real  power  of  the  English  colonists,  they  would 
have  kicked  the  war-belt  from  their  midst  and  flung  them- 
selves at  the  feet  of  the  English,  claiming  their  friendship  with 
the  eloquence  of  savage  metaphor.  Of  this,  however,  they  had 
no  conception,  and  entertained  no  doubt  that  they  could  kill  off 
the  English  garrisons  in  the  entire  country  and  bar  the  door 
against  the  entrance  of  any  more.  This  was  the  aim  of  Pontiac, 
and  it  met  the  approval  of  his  red  brethren,  without  a  dissenting 
voice  in  the  council.  Plans  were  laid  to  attack  each  English  fort 
in  the  country  at  a  coming  change  of  the  moon  in  the  month  of 
May.l 

True  to  the  time-honored  custom  of  Indian  warfare,  treachery 
was  the  chief  instrument  to  be  used  in  taking  them.  In  the  at- 
tack of  Detroit,  Poutiac's  plan  was  to  gain  admittance  to  the 
fort  with  a  chosen  band  of  his  warriors,  under  the  semblance  of 
friendship,  and,  at  a  given  signal,  fall  upon  the  unsuspecting 
garrison  with  their  weapons,  which  were  to  be  concealed  under 
their  blankets,  and  kill  them  before  they  had  time  to  seize  their 

*  Lanman's  Mich.,  p.  98. 

t  Manuscript  Doc.  of  J.  R.  Williams;   see  Lanman's  Mich.,  p.  99. 

JThe  Ottawas,  Miamis,  Chippewas,  Wyandots,  Pottowattomies,  Shawanese, 
Outagamies,  and  Winnebagoes,  composed  the  council ;  but  there  were  other  tribes 
from  remote  places,  as  well  as  smaller  tribes  near  by,  who  were  friendly  to  Pon- 
liac's  cause,  while  it  is  evident  that  a  few  deliberate  thinkers  had  not  full  faith  in 
his  schemes. 

II  These  consisted  of  Detroit,  Michilimackinac,  Ste.  Marie,  Green  Bay,  St.  Jo- 
seph, Ouatanon,  Miami,  Ft.  Pitt,  Venango,  Le  Boeuf,  Presque  Isle,  and  Sandus- 
ky. Ft.  Niagara  was  not  to  be  attacked,  its  great  strength  and  remoteness  being 
looked  upon  as  insurmountable  obstacle  to  be  overcome. 


V2(i  Tfie  Ojibway  Girl. 

arms.  The  success  of  this  undertaking  required  preparation. 
Their  guns  had  to  be  shortened  bj  several  inches  being  taken 
from  the  muzzles,  in  order  to  reduce  them  in  length  sufficiently 
for  concealment  under  their  blankets.*  This  was  done  with  files 
and  saws  borrowed  from  the  French  inhabitants,  who  lent  them 
these  tools  in  igriorance  of  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  to 
be  used.  While  this  was  going  on,  the  Indians  kept  up  their 
friendly  visits  to  the  fort  as  usual ;  but  one  afternoon  there  came 
in  a  young  Ojibway  girl  who  had  previously  been  employed  to 
make  a  pair  of  Indian  shoes  for  Major  Gladwin,  the  commander. 
She  delivered  them  to  him.  and  the  major  was  so  pleased  with 
the  neatness  with  which  they  were  made,  that  he  proposed  to 
her  to  make  more  of  the  same  kind,  and  for  that  purpose  gave 
her  the  remainder  of  the  elk  skin  from  which  the  first  pair  had 
been  made.  This  done,  he  paid  her  for  making  the  pair  deliv- 
ered, and  dismissed  her.  Instead  of  directly  leaving,  the  girl 
lingered  about  in  a  dreamy  air  of  sadness,  till  she  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  sentinels,  who  asked  her  the  cause;  but  she  was 
silent.  Meantime,  her  pensive  mood  did  not  escape  the  observ- 
ation of  Gladwin.  She  was  recalled  to  his  presence,  and  reveal- 
ed to  him  the  plans  of  Pontiac,  under  a  promise  of  secrecy.f 

The  next  morning  was  the  appointed  time  for  the  culnjination 
of  the  treachery,  and  Gladwin  set  himself  about  the  work  of 
preparation  to  meet  it.  The  strength  of  the  garrison  was  about 
300,  while  double  that  number  of  Indians  hovered  around  them, 
hungry  for  their  blood.  Every  man  was  immediately  placed  un- 
der arms,  in  readiness  for  the  expected  visit ;  and,  in  addition 
to  these  precautions,  says  Carver,  "he  sent  round  to  all  the  tra- 
ders to  inform  them  that,  as  it  was  expected  a  great  number  of 
Indians  would  enter  the  town  that  day,  who  might  be  inclined 
to  plunder,  he  desired  they  would  have  their  arms  ready,  and 
repel  every  attempt  of  that  kind." 

At  an  early  hour  the  next  morning,  an  unusual  stir  was  appa- 
rent among  the  Indians,  and,  at  ten  o'clock,  Pontiac  himself,  at 
the  head  of  sixty  chiefs,  with  wooden-clad  immobility  stamped 
upon  their  faces,  approached  the  fort.  The  gates  were  thrown 
open  and  they  entered ;  but  what  was  Pontiac's  astonishment  to 
see  the  entire  garrison  armed  with  swords  and  pistols?  He  saw 
at  once  that  his  plot  had  been  discovered,  but,  with  complete 
composure,  concealed  the  emotions  that  were  inwardly  cousum- 

*  A  French  citizen  named  M.  Beaufait  had  been  shown  a  shortened  gun  and  in- 
formed of  the  plot,  in  advance.     He  afterward  assisted  Pontiac  by  his  counsel. 

t  Carver,  who  visited  Detroit  in  1766,  only  three  years  after  the  siege,  is  the 
authority  for  this  tradition  of  the  Ojibway  girl.  Parkman  quotes  other  traditions, 
attributing  the  disclosure  of  Pontiac's  treacherous  designs  to  others,  but  certainly 
with  less  plausibility;  for  who  would  be  so  likely  to  turn  apostate  to  their  owa 
j-c  .pie  as  a  young  girl  whose  eyes  might  be  dazzled  with  the  glitter  of  epaulets? 


1< allure  of  the  Short  Gun  Conspiracy.  l:il 

ing  hin  ,  and   made  a  speech.     The   scene  tliat  followed  is  best 
described  by  Carver,  whose  words  are  here  quoted: 

"The  governor  in  his  turn  made  a  speecli ;  but,  instead  of 
thanking  the  grent  warrior  for  tlip  professions  of  friendship  he 
liad  just  uttered,  he  accused  him  of  being  a  traitor.  He  told 
him  that  the  English,  wlio  knew  everj'tliing,  were  convi;^ced  of 
his  treachery  and  villainous  designs ;  and,  as  a  ])roof  that  they 
were  well  acquainted  with  his  most  secrei  thoughts  and  inten- 
tions, he  stepped  toward  the  Indian  chief  that  sat  nearest  to  him, 
and  drawing  aside  his  blanket  discovered  the  shortened  firelock. 
This  entirely  disconcerted  the  Indians,  and  frustrated  their  de- 
sign. 

"  He  then  continued  to  tell  them  that,  as  he  had  given  his 
word  at  the  time  they  desired  an  audience,  that  their  persons 
should  be  safe,  he  would  hold  his  promise  inviolable,  though 
they  so  little  deserved  it.  However,  he  advised  them  to  maJce 
the  best  of  their  way  out  of  the  fort  lest  his  young  men,  on  be- 
ing . '.equal !ited  with  their  treacherous  purposes,  should  cut  every 
one  of  them  to  pieces.  Pontiac  endeavored  to  contradict  the 
accusation,  and  to  make  excuses  for  his  suspicious  conduct ;  but 
the  governor,  satisfied  of  the  falsity  of  his  protestations,  would 
not  listen  to  him." 

Thus  baffled  in  their  attempt,  Pontiac  and  his  band  left,  and 
with  a  full  appreciation  of  the  courage  of  Gladwin,  as  well  as  a 
conviction  that  treachery  could  play  no  part  in  taking  the  fort. 
The  next  day,  the  first  attack  was  made  with  great  fury,  but  was 
repulsed  by  the  well-directed  fire  of  the  garrison.  The  post  was 
soon  completely  environed,  and  while  the  besieged  are  economis- 
ing their  stinted  resources  to  hold  it  against  the  audacious  foe, 
the  fate  of  the  other  English  forts  in  the  western  wilderntss  will 
be  told. 

The  style  of  warfare  practiced  by  the  Indians,  though  sp.ngnin- 
ary,  was  defective,  inasmuch  as  they  were  ignorant  of  any  meth- 
od by  which  to  abridge  private  rights,  even  for  the  public  good. 
Every  one  was  his  own  master,  amenable  to  no  tribunal  except 
}>ublic  opinion.  Against  the  French  they  cherished  n6  resent- 
ments, and  at  first,  with  considerate  charity,  allowed  them  to 
take  a  neutral  position ;  nor  did  they  object  to  their  visiting  the 
English  forts,  for  the  rights  of  neutrals,  about  which  England 
and  America  have  lately  drawn  hair-splitting  theories,  was  a 
sealed  book  to  their  barbarous  subtleties.  This  slipshod  miUta- 
rv  practice  gave  the  French  who  w^ere  favorably  disposed  toward 
the  English  an  opportunity  to  do  much  to  assist  them. 

After  the  siege  of  Detroit  had  progressed  a  month,  there  came 
to  the  place  a  reverend  Father  from  Michilimackinac,  named 
Jonois,  who  presided  over  a  mission  among  the  Otta^nas  at  that 


122  Massacre  at  Michilimackinac. 

place.  On  his  arrival,  he  first  paid  his  respects  to  Pontiac,  and 
the  next  day  rapped  at  the  gate  of  the  fort.  He  was  admitted ; 
l>iit  he  bore  unwelcome  news.  Major  Etherington,  the  comman- 
der of  Michilimackinac,  had  intrusted  him  with  a  letter  to  Glad- 
win, which  he  delivered.  From  it  as  well  as  from  the  worthy 
Father  himself,  who  had  been  an  eye-witness,  Gladwin  learned 
of  the  sad  fate  of  Michilimackinac.  The  Indians  had  taken  the 
post  by  stratagem,  a  game  of  ball  being  the  instrumental  means. 
First  they  obtained  permission  for  a  number  of  their  squaws  to 
enter  the  fort.  These  had  weapons  concealed  under  their  blan- 
kets. The  ball  was  then  batted  over  the  palisades  of  the  fort, 
as  if  by  chance,  and  permission  being  granted  to  go  inside  after 
it,  a  pack  of  savages  rushed  in  at  the  opening  of  the  gate.  The 
squaws  quickly  acted  their  part  in  the  bloody  work,  by  passing 
their  concealed  weapons  over  to  the  warriors,  and  the  butchery 
inside  the  fort  began.  At  the  same  moment,  the  attack  on  the 
soldiers  outside  was  made,  where  about  half  the  garrison  were 
watching  the  treacherous  game. 

The  whole  number  of  the  garrison  was  ninety-three,  all  told. 
About  seventy  were  killed,  and,  vengeance  being  sated,  the  re- 
mainder became  subjects  of  savage  mercy.  Major  Etherington, 
the  commander,  some  months  before  had  been  admonished  of 
danger  by  a  French  resident  of  the  place,  named  Laurent  Du- 
charm;  but,  instead  of  heeding  the  timely  warning,  he  snubbed 
the  informant  tartly,  and  threatened  to  send  the  next  officious 
bearer  of  such  a  message  to  Detroit  as  prisoner.*  The  self-reli- 
ant major  was  among  the  few  spared,  but  his  soldiers  paid  dear- 
ly for  his  impervious  resolution. 

Alexander  Henry,  the  trader  already  mentioned,  then  a  resi- 
dent of  the  place,  had  been  warned  the  year  before  '^f  the  upris- 
ing, by  Wawatara,  a  Chippewa  chief,  who  had  conceived  a  strong 
friendship  for  him  as  the  result  of  some  favor.  This  "spiritual 
aeer"  had  received  a  message  from  the  happy  land,  urging  him 
to  protect  Henry  and  adopt  him  as  a  brother.  He  informed  him 
of  the  revelation,  and  made  him  a  generous  present.  Henry  ac- 
cepted the  fraternal  tie,  gave  him  a  present  in  return,  and'  the 
chief  departed  for  his  winter  hunt.  On  the  2d  of  June,  two 
days  before  the  massacre,  he  returned  and  urged  Henry  to  go 
with  biia  and  his  family  to  the  Sault.  Henry  graciously  declin- 
ed the  invitation,  when  Wawatam  left  with  his  family,  a  few  tears 
dropping  from  his  eyes  as  he  took  his  leave.f  On  the  4th  of 
June,  two  days  afterward,  Henry  beheld  from  the  window  of  his 
trading  station,  his  comrades  shrieking  under  the  strokes  of  the 
Bcalping-knife,  at  the  revelry  of  blood  of  wliich  Wawatam  had 
warned  him,  when  he  fled  from  the  place  and  took  refuge  in  the 

*  Smith'»  Wis.,  vol.  I.,  p.  134.  f  Smith's  Wis. 


Alexander  Henry  and  Wawatam.  12? 


house  of  a  Frenchman  named  Langlade.  An  inoffensive  Paw- 
nee slave,  unbeknown  to  the  owner,  secreted  him  in  a  garret. 
The  infuriated  Indians  soon  entered  the  very  room  he  was  in, 
but  ill  their  delirious  excitement  failed  to  discover  him,  packed 
away  as  he  was  among  a  pile  of  bark  vessels;  but  the  mistress- 
of  the  household,  on  learning  of  his  presence,  feared  the  conse- 
quences of  concealing  him,  and  when  she  thought  of  her  child- 
ren she  no  longer  hesitated,  but  led  the  savages  to  the  place  of 
Henry's  concealment.  The  wretched  man  was  draggea  out  bj 
a  painted  demon,  who  raised  his  weapen  to  kill  him,  but  liesita- 
ted,  and  finally  sent  him  away  with  a  portion  of  the  other  cap- 
tives. 

The  ultimate  fate  of  all  of  them  was  yet  subject  to  many  ca- 
pricious conditions,  all  of  which  are  related  in  Henry's  Travels.* 
Through  the  influence  of  Wawatam,  Henry  was  saved  with  the 
rest,  partly  through  the  instrumentality  of  Indian  eloquence  and 
partly  by  means  of  presents ;  but  grave  counsels  were  held  a* 
to  the  fate  of  the  whole,  and  at  last  it  was  determined  to  send 
them  to  the  French  at  Montreal,  where  they  arrived  in  the  suc- 
ceeding August,  together  with  17  captives  from  Green  Bay,  with 
Lieut.  Gori'ell,  their  commander, f 

Ere  this,  St.  Joseph,  Ouatanon,  Miami,  and  Sandusky,  had  all 
been  taken  by  the  Indians,  but,  to  the  credit  of  the  captors  be  it 
said,  with  less  atrocity  than  had  been  practiced  at  Michilimacki- 
nac.  From  Sandiiskv,  the  commander.  Ensign  Pauly,  was  taken 
to  Detroit,  where  his  manly  form  attracted  the  attention  of  a^ 
squaw  whose  husband  had  been  slain  in  battle.  In  him  the  be- 
reavsd  widow  beheld  her  consolation,  and  saved  his  life  by  mar- 
rying him — but  he  proved  a  faithless  lover.  Through  the  me- 
dium of  a  Frenchman,  he  soon  sent  a  letter  to  Gladwin,  and  a 
few  weeks  later  found  means  to  desert  his  bride  and  take  refuge 
in  the  fort. 

After  the  fall  of  Michilimackinac  and  Sandusky,  Pontiac  re- 
ceived reinforcements,  and  the  situation  of  the  garrison  at  De- 
troit became  daily  more  critical,  and  the  place  must  have  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  infuriated  bands  of  Pontiac  if  some  of  the 
French  inhabitants  had  not  secretly,  under  cover  of  night,  sent 
supplies  to  the  fort  to  prevent  starvation,  which  was  now  more 
to  be  feared  than  the  attacks  of  the  enemy.  The  fort  was  oidy 
a  wooden  stockade,  made  of  piles  driven  into  the  ground,  and  lest 
it  might  be  set  fire  to  by  the  besiegers.     Gladwin  had,  by  means 

■*  This  interesting  pamphlet  has  been  reprintea  in  several  of  the  early  histories 
of  the  country. 

t  Owing  to  the  good  offices  of  the  Indians  around  the  place,  the  whole  garrisoa 
had  been  spared,  they  merely  evacuating  the  post  and  joining  Etherington  in  his 
captivity.  The  fort  at  Ste.  iMarie  had  been  evacuated  previous  to  the  massacre 
at  Michilimackinac,  whither  the  fugitives  had  taken  refuge,  and  perished  at  th» 
mMUcre. 


124  Treacherous  Peace  Proposals. 

of  hot  shot,  burned  every  hut  near  it  which  might  conceal  an 
Indian.  Ponaac,  destitute  of  anything  but  small  arms  with 
which  to  breach  its  walls,  again  had  recourse  to  treachery  to 
gain  it. 

When  Rogers  left  Detroit  in  1760,  Major  Campbell  assumed 
the  command,  and  retained  it  most  of  the  time  till  Gladwin  had 
been  appointed  to  the  chief  command,  while  lie  held  fl)e  second. 
During  Campbell's  administration,  he  had  vvon  the  esteem  of 
both  the  French  and  the  Indians,  and  Pontiac  sent  him  a  mes- 
sage requesting  him  to  come  to  his  camp,  and  terminate  tlie  war 
by  a  friendly  council.  The  message  was  brought  by  two  estim- 
able French  citizens,  who,  deceived  by  the  fair  exterior  of  Pon- 
tiac, advised  the  granting  of  the  interview.  Gladwin's  consent 
was  reluctantly  obtained  by  the  too  confiding  Campbell,  who 
was  willing  to  go ;  and,  not  without  misgiving  on  the  part  of 
Gladwin,  he  went,  accompanied  by  Lieut.  McDougalL  He  was 
received  with  courtesy  by  Pontiac,  but,  contrary  to  his  pledges, 
was  not  allowed  to  return  except  on  condition  that  the  fort  should 
be  given  up.*  McDougall  made  his  escape,  but  the  unfortunate 
Major  Campbell,  more  closely  guarded,  was  reserved  for  a  cruel 
test  of  warring  emotions,  against  which  the  world  has  put  the 
fieal  of  abhorrence. 

The  time  was  now  near  at  hand  when  the  annual  supplies  for 
the  western  forts  were  due  from  Ft.  Niagara,  and  Gladwin,  in 
order  to  hurry  them  along,  on  the  21st  of  May  sent  the  smallest 
of  the  two  vessels  which  lay  in  the  river  beside  the  fort  to  meet 
them.  Ere  she  had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  river,  while  b'ing 
becalmed,  a  fleet  of  canoes  rapidly  approached  the  vessel,  filled 
with  Indians  intending  to  board  her  and  kill  the  crew.  Lashed 
to  the  bow  of  the  foremost  was  the  unhappy  captive.  Major 
•Campbell,  who  had  been  put  there  under  an  impression  that  the 
English  would  not  tire  on  them,  for  fear  of  killing  their  own 
-countryman.  "  Do  your  duty!'''*  commanded  the  bmve  old  offi- 
cer, f  whose  whitened  locks  lent  pathos  to  the  last  o.der  he  ever 
4^jive  to  his  soldiers.  At  that  moment,  a  breeze  filled  the  sails 
of  the  vessel,  and  she  sped  away,  lifting  a  heavy  burden  from 
the  hearts  of  the  gunners,  but  reserving  the  noble  captive  for  a 
cruder  fate.  Balked  of  their  prey,  the  savages  returned  with 
their  prisoner;  but  he  was  soon  afterward  tomahawked  by  ;.n 
Ottawa  savage,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of  an  uncle  killed  at 
Michilimackinac.  Pontiac  was  enraged  at  this  base  act,  and  the 
miscreant  who  did  it  fled  to  Saginaw  to  escape  his  vengeance. :{: 

Unreuiitting  watchfulness  on  the  ramparts,  on  the  part  of 
the  inmates  of  the  fort,  and  eccentric  spasms  of  vengefulness 

•  Lanman's  Mich.,  p.  no 

t  I'arkman's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  vol.  I.,  p.  261. 

X  Lanman,  p.  iii. 


Capture  of  the  Supply  Fleet.  125 

on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  cctinued  till  the  30tli  of  May,  when 
a  sentinel  shouted  forth  tidin  that  the  expected  supplies  were 
in  sight  coming  up  the  river.  All  eyes  were  turned  in  that  direc- 
tionrwhere  the  batteaux  were  visible  in  the  distance,  and  a  burst 
of  exultation  rent  the  air.  As  the  batteau  fleet  drew  nearer,  the 
forms  of  the  men  became  more  visible.  Tiie  rowers  toiled  along 
in  silence,  till  a  closer  view  revealed  the  painful  situation.  Lord- 
ly Indians  stood  erect  in  the  boats  while  the  English  soldiers 
were  rowing.  In  the  foremost  were  tiiree  savages  armed  with 
tomahawks  and  four  captives.  Nearing  the  vessels  beside  the 
fort,  they  called  out  to  the  sailors  for  aid,  and  the  three  Indians 
who  guarded  them  leaped  into  the  water,  one  of  them  dragging 
a  soldier  with  him,  both  of  whom  were  drowned  in  their  grap- 
ples with  each  other.  The  three  remaining  soldiers  in  the  bat- 
teau escaped  to  the  shore  under  a  hot  lire  from  the  Indians,  both 
from  the  Canada  shore  and  the  batteaux,  wounding  one  of  them.* 
All  the  while,  the  vessel  discharged  her  cannon  at  the  savages 
in  the  batteau  fleet,  and  drove  them  back ;  but  they  landed  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  took  their  captives,  over  sixty  in 
number,  to  their  camp  above.  The  escaped  captives,  now  with- 
in the  walls  of  the  fort,  told  the  tale  of  disaster  which  had  be- 
fallen them. 

Early  in  May,  Lieut.  Cuyler,  with  a  detachment  of  Green'a 
Rangers,  numbering  97  men,  with  twenty  batteaux,  embarked 
from  Ft.  Schlosserf  with  the  annual  supplies  for  Detroit  Tak- 
ing his  course  along  the  northern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  they  arriv- 
ed at  Point  Pelee,  just  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  river. 
Unconscious  of  danger,  they  landed  to  gather  fuel,  when  a  band 
of  W^'andots  in  the  service  of  Pontiac  attacked  them  so  sudden- 
ly that  all  but  thirty,  who  escaped  in  their  boats,  were  taken 
prisoners.  To  the  inmates  of  the  fort  at  Detroit  the  fate  of  the 
thirty  soldiers  was  uncertain,  but  a  well-grounded  hope  consoled 
them  that  they  would  reach  Niagara,  the  place  from  whence 
they  had  started,  and  give  information  of  the  catastrophe  by 
which  their  attempt  to  bring  relief  had  miscarried.  Fortunately 
this  was  the  case.  They  arrived  safely  at  Ft.  Schlosser,  tho 
place  whcKe  the  vessel  lay  at  anchor  which  had  been  sent  to  meet 
them,  but,  ])assing  them  unobserved,  had  kept  on  her  course. 
All  haste  was  now  made  by  Major  Wilkins,  tlie  commander  of 
Ft.  >Jiagara,  to  send  succor  to  tho  beleaguered  garrison.  Thirty 
soldiers  were  added  to  tho  thirty  fugitives,  and  tho  whole  em- 

•  Of  the  v.Trious  versions  of  this  encounter,  the  one  hearing  the  siroiigest  niarks. 
of  consistency  iias  been  chusen.  Cass  is  the  authority  fur  it.  bee  Lanman't 
Mithi^nn,  p.  1 1 1. 

t  Ft.  Schlosser  was  only  a  sub-post  of  Ft.  Niagara — a  kind  of  starting-place 
above  the  Falls,  for  supplies  taken  from  Ft.  Niagara  by  a  porterage  around  th» 
Falls. 


1 26  Torture  of  the  Captives. 

barked  under  command  of  Cuyler,  who  was  one  of  those  who 
had  escaped.  While  they  are  pressing  sail  for  Detroit,  let  us 
take  a  view  of  the  situation  there. 

The  appalling  spectacle  of  over  sixty  English  soldiers  being 
dragged  by  the  fort  by  tiie  hands  of  the  savages,  was  the  dark- 
est hour  of  the  siege.  Yells  of  delight  burst  from  their  throats 
as  they  gathered  them  into  their  camp,  determined  to  make  the 
most  of  them  in  the  way  of  revenge.  First,  they  were  stripped 
naked  and  set  up  for  turget  practice  with  their  arrows,  in  which 
the  warriors  indulged  to  their  hearts'  content.  Eut  the  women 
and  children  must  have  a  chance  at  them  before  the  vital  spark 
became  extinct,  and  their  flesh  was  punctured  with  the  ends  of 
burning  sticks  by  these  ingenious  tormentors.  The  tomahawk 
and  seal  ping-knife  finished  up  the  unhallowed  work.  Their 
blood  was  drank  as  it  ran  in  warm  streams  from  their  lacerated 
veins.  Parts  of  their  flesh  were  made  into  soup  and  eaten,  and 
their  bodies  thrown  into  the  river. 

The  summer  twilight  had  died  away  and  the  sentinels  were 
pacing  their  nightly  vigils,  when  two  French  inhabitants  came 
to  the  fort  and  brought  tidinirs  of  this  massacre.  The  silence  of 
death  pervaded  the  place  at  its  recital,  till  the  silence  was  broken 
by  speculations  as  to  the  time  when  relief  could  come.  The 
next  day  the  bodies  of  their  tortured  fellow-soldiers  came  float- 
ing down  the  river. 

Eighteen  days  of  suspense  now  hung  over  the  garrison,  when 
a  rumor  came  that  a  sail  had  been  descried.  This  was  June 
19th.  On  the  23d  the  news  was  coniirmed  by  M.  i>aby,  a 
French  inhabitant  of  Detroit,  whose  discreet  friendship  had  al- 
ready rendered  essential  service  to  the  garrison,  without  com- 
promising his  influence  with  Pontiac.  The  vessel  did  not  arrive 
till  the  30th,  so  great  was  the  caution  of  Cuyler,  the  commander, 
to  avoid  the  toils  and  ambuscades  of  the  Indians  along  the  chan- 
nel of  the  river,  as  it  curled  among  the  cluster  of  islands  just 
above  its  mouth.  Notwithstanding  his  caution,  however,  an  at- 
teiript  was  made  by  them  to  board  his  vessel  as  she  lay  at  anchor 
in  the  night,  but  an  unexpected  discharge  of  cannon  and  mus- 
ketry made  them  pay  dearly  for  their  temerity.  • 

The  fort,  now  recruited  with  an  ample  store  of  provisions  and 
sixty  men,  tliey  could  breathe  freer. 

On  the  23d  of  the  previous  month,  Pontiac  summoned  a  con- 
vention for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  the  French  in  his  cause. 
According  to  the  usual  custom,  mats  were  spread  on  the  green 
for  tlie  accommodation  of  the  notables,  who  had  been  invited  to 
take  places  of  honor  at  the  grave  sitting.  Said  Pontiac,  in  his 
fipeecb : 

''Until  now,  I  have  avoided  urging  yon  this  subject,  in  the 


Arrival  of  DrXzelL  127 

feope  that,  if  jou  cjuld  not  aid,  you  would  not  injure  us.  I  did 
not  wish  to  ask  you  to  tight  with  us  against  the  English,  arid  I 
did  not  believe  you  would  take  part  with  them.  You  will  say 
you  are  not  with  them.  I  know  it ;  but  yonr  conduct  amounts 
to  the  same  thing.  You  will  tell  them  all  we  do  and  say.  You 
carry  our  coutisels  and  plans  to  them.  Now  take  your  choice. 
You  must  be  entirely  Frei.ch  like  ourselves,  or  entirely  English. 
If  you  are  French,  take  this  belt  for  yourselves  and  your  younuj 
men,  and  join  os.  If  you  are  English,  we  declare  war  against 
yon." 

To  this  argument  the  French  replied  that  their  king  had  tied 
their  hands  against  injuring  the  English,  when  he  made  peace 
with  them,  and,  as  a  proof,  produced  a  copy  of  the  capitulation. 
*'  Untie  this  knot  and  we  will  join  y^u.''  The  perplexed  orator 
was  silent,  V)ut  his  unconquerable  will  won  a  few  private  recruits 
from  the  savage  transcendentalism  that  always  exists  in  border 
life,  and  constitutes  a  class  defiant  and  aggre.  sive,  as  it  is  regard- 
less of  consequences.  Tliese  neophytes  in  savage  warfare  were 
received  with  appropriate  honors  by  I'ontiaj,  who  patronizingly 
extended  his  hand  to  them  and  presented  the  pipe  with  gravity, 
and  tiie  council  was  dismissed. 

Fontiac  next  conceived  the  design  of  burning  the  two  English 
vessels  that  lay  beside  the  fort,  by  means  of  tire-rafts,  and  to 
this  end  tore  down  some  stables  belonging  to  the  French,  for 
materials  out  of  which  to  make  them.  The  rafts  were  freighted 
with  a  plentiful  supply  of  tar  and  pitch,  tired,  and  started  afloat 
above  the  vessels,  under  cover  of  a  dark  night.  When  the  bla- 
zing crafts  came  toward  the  vessels  they  turned  aside  and  passed 
harmlessly  down  the  river,  thanks  to  the  preparations  Gladwin 
had  made  for  their  not  unexpected  visit. 

On  the  29th  of  July,  a  fresh  arrival  came  to  the  fort.  It  con- 
sisted of  22  barges  and  280  men,  commanded  by  Capt.  Dalzell, 
an  able  ofiicer  who  had  been  a  companion  of  Israel  Putnam.* 
Major  Rogers  was  also  one  of  the  officers  of  the  reinforcement, 
who  commanded  a  few  veteran  Rangers,  for  which  service  he 
liad  attained  a  high  reputation.  Capt.  Dalzell  was  for  immedi- 
ately taking  the  offensive,  and  an  expedition  was  planned  to 
march  against  Pontiac's  camp  and  strike  a  decisive  and  unex- 
pected blow. 

The  following  account  of  the  unlucky  sortie  is  copied  from 
Laimiaii's  Michigan: 

"On  the  morning  of  the  Slst  of  July,  about  two  o'clock,  Capt. 
Dalzell,  with  a  force  of  247  men,  marched  up  the  Detroit  river, 
toward  Pontiac's  camp ;  while  two  gunboats  in  the  river  were 

*  Fukman'i  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  toI.  I.,  p.  308. 


128  Defeat  at  Bloody  Run. 

pushed  against  the  stream  to  cover  the  retreat  and  take  oif  the 
wounded  and  dead.  Information  of  this  contemplated  attack 
had  been  in  some  mode  communicated  to  the  Indians,  and  they 
removed  their  women  and  children,  and  prepared  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  British  troops.  A  party  of  warriors  was  stationed 
behind  the  pickets  upon  a  neighboring  farm,*  and  another  at 
l'li)ody  Run,  which  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Detroit  on 
I  lie  main  road.  Here  they  were  concealed  in  the  liigh  grass  be- 
hind pickets  and  heaps  of  cord-wood,  f  The  British  party  had 
reached  the  bridge,  when  a  sudden  and  destructive  lire  was  poured 
upon  them  from  the  cord-wood  and  the  grass.  This  threw  them 
into  the  utmost  confusion.  At  the  lirst  fire  Dalzell  fell.  The 
British  fought  with  desperation,  but  were  attacked  on  all  sides, 
and  a  vigorous  charge  was  made  by  the  bayonet  upon  the  posi- 
tions of  the  Indians;  but  a  scattering  fire  was  kept  up  by  the 
savages  from  every  place  that  could  furnish  them  a  cover.  At 
length,  finding  that  their  situation  was  perilous,  the  British  were 
ordered  to  retire,  which  was  effected  without  serious  loss,  under 
the  direction  of  Capt.  Grant,  aided  by  Major  Rogers,  if  This  re- 
treat was  covered  on  the  shore  of  the  Detroit  river  by  the  armed 
gun-boats,  and  the  whole  party  arrived  at  the  fo;t  about  8  o'clock. 
It  was  effected  by  driving  the  Indians  from  house  to  house  and 
field  to  field,  until  a  line  of  defense  could  be  made  toward  the 
fort.  In  this  action,  according  to  the  official  returns,  there  were 
19  killed  and  42  wounded.  The  place  of  its  occurrence  is  called 
Bloody  Run." 

Pontiac  lost  no  time  in  sending  the  news  of  this  victory  to  hia 
allies  far  and  near,  to  rekindle  the  war-spirit  afresh,  and  new  re- 
cruits soon  came  in,  suflicient  to  supply  tlie  places  of  such  as  had 
deserted.  Gladwin  was  therefore  still  forced  to  maintain  a  he- 
roic defense,  without  the  least  relaxation  of  discipline.  They 
were  ever  on  the  watch,  for  but  a  brief  cessation  of  their  vigils 
might  bring  destruction  to  the  entire  garrison. 

As  autumn  drew  near,  Gladwin  sent  one  of  his  vessels  to  Ni- 
agara for  supplies  for  the  winter;  and  on  her  return,  while  lying 
one  night  in  the  river,  only  nine  miles  bel»)w  the  fort,  a  largo 
body  of  Indians  approached  her  in  their  canoes,  and  so  dark  was 
the  night  that  they  were  close  by  before  they  were  seen,  although 
a  vigilant  watch  was  kept  up.  The  order  to  fire  was  immediate- 
ly given,  which  was  obeyed ;  but  the  next  moment  the  Indians 
were  in  the  act  of  boarding  tho  vessel.     The  crew,  only  ten  in 

•  That  of  Mr.  Dequindre. 

f  Consult  Cass,  Drake,  and  Thatcher. 

\  A  bottle  of  brandy  was  at  one  time  lent  to  Pontiac  by  Col,  Rogers,  and  hi> 
warriors  cautioned  him  not  to  taste  it,  lest  it  might  be  poisoned.  I'ontiac,  how- 
ever, rejected  their  advice.  •' He  cannot  take  my  life,"  said  the  Ottawa  chief; 
••  I  have  saved  his." 


&EN1  ClARii 
GWSI  GLAIRJINlWAYNI^ 

AXD 


f-/, ..''/. 


'■;))lil 


r«irie  du  Thifii 


inn«»e 


,/Il 


F*.cIo»Miain^ 


Battlf  of 
Tippe  Canoe); 


Y\ .  Oiifitiinou  'A 


Sf 


aCuilipKllSMPll 


Et.Harrisoii-pi 


foVINCCNNES 


r^ 


Clnrksvillt'o,.,/^^ 


()!,,<,     Kiv 


K  VS^^ 


Peace  ProposaU.  12^ 

number,  aspailed  them  with  hatchets  and  spears,  killing  them  as 
fast  as  their  heads  appeared  above  the  railing.  Still,  the  In- 
dians, with  desperate  resolution,  pressed  against  the  deck  of  the 
little  schooner  with  increased  force,  apparently  determined  to 
capture  her  at  any  sacrifice.  Some  of  them  had  now  clambered 
over  the  railing  and  already  gained  the  deck,  when  the  captain, 
wisely  choosing  death  from  explosion,  to  Indian  torture,  called 
out— "Blow  up  the  vessel!"  Startled  at  this  desperate  resort, 
the  Indians  leaped  into  the  river,  diving  under  the  water  as  a 
screen  from  the  expected  flying  missiles  of  the  exploded  vessel, 
while  those  in  the  canoes  by  her  side  pulled  away  in  hot  haste. 
The  Indians,  not  caring  to  be  blown  to  pieces,  made  no  farther 
attempts  to  capture  the  vessel,  and  she  reached  the  fort  the  next 
morning.  The  captain  and  one  of  the  crew  were  killed  and  four 
others  wounded.  The  six  uninjured  survivors,  among  whom 
was  Jacobs,  the  mate,  as  they  appeared  before  Gladwin  to  relate 
the  circumstances  of  the  encounter,  bore  the  marks  of  its  fierce- 
ness on  their  garments,  sprinkled  as  they  were  with  the  blood 
of  their  foes,  while  their  spears  and  hatchets  were  stained  like 
butchers'  tools.* 

The  season  was  now  so  far  advanced  that  that  no  farther  sup- 
plies or  reinforcements  could  be  expected  till  the  next  summer, 
and  the  garrison  must  make  the  most  of  the  provisions  just 
brought  them  by  the  heroic  crew,  though  barely  sufficient  to  sus- 
tain them  through  the  winter.  Meantime,  the  Indians  began  to 
run  short  of  provisions  as  well  as  ammunition,  and  of  the  new 
recruits  who  had  recently  swelled  the  ranks  of  Pontiac  none  re- 
mained through  the  winter,  while  most  of  those  who  had  borno 
the  brunt  in  besieging  the  place  from  the  first,  were  compelled 
by  necessity  to  take  to  the  distant  forests  for  subsistence.  Some 
of  these  sent  in  treacherous  peace  proposals  to  Gladwin,  who 
accepted  them  for  what  they  were  worth,  but  placed  no  confi- 
dence in  their  stability.  Even  Pontiac  broke  through  the  line 
of  his  incarnate  hatred  to  the  English,  sent  a  peace  message  to 
Gladwin,  and  retired  to  the  Maumee  rapids  to  apend  the  winter. 
Cuii.parative  quiet  thus  restored,  the  garrison  rested  while  they 
watched  through  the  succeeding  winter. 

*Faikmaa's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  toI.  I.,  pp.  320,  321. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

tt.  Pitt  Besieged  hy  the  Indians — Fate  of  Fts.  Presque  Isle^ 
Le  Bmif,  and  Venango —  Col.  Bouquet  marches  to  the  Relief 
of  Ft.  Pitt — Battle  of  Bushy  Run — Gen.  Amherst  resigns 
his  position  as  Commander-in-  Chief,  and  Gen.  Gage  is  ap- 
pointed his  successor — Sir  Wm.  Johnson  calls  an  Indian  Con- 
vention at  Niagara — Gen.  Bradstreet  marches  to  the  Relief 
of  Detroit — Col.  Bouquet  invades  the  Indian  Country  on  the 
Muskingum  River — Holds  a  Council  with  the  Indians — De- 
mands the  Rendition  of  Captives — Passionate  emotions  of 
forest  life — Preliminaries  of  Peace — Tue  army  returns  to 
the  frontier  settlements  in  Pennsylvania  with  206  returned 
captives. 

On  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio  the  French  and  Indian  war 
began.  It  terminated  in  Canada,  as  far  as  the  French  issue  was 
concerned ;  but  the  overthrow  of  the  French  armies  brought  the 
Anglo-Americans  into  close  relations  with  the  Indians  of  the  in- 
terior, and  on  the  head-watefs  of  the  Ohio  the  two  rival  elements 
met  each  other.  Here  stood  Ft.  Pitt,  amid  the  desolations  of 
savage  warfare.  To  the  west,  a  continent  spread  out  its  vast 
extent,  yet  unknown  ;  and  even  to  the  east,  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  the  suvage  foe  had  ranged  the  country  in  triumph, 
and  killed  or  led  into  captivity  the  hapless  settlers  along  the  bor- 
ders of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  More  than  a  thousand  fam- 
ilies had  fled  before  these  merciless  invaders,  to  save  themselves 
from  the  fate  of  the  first  victims  of  their  vengeance. 

Capt.  Simeon  Ecuyer,  an  able  officer,  of  Swiss  nationality, 
held  command  of  Ft.  Pitt.  Its  garrison  numbered  300  men. 
During  the  interval  between  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian 
war  and  Pontiac's  renewal  of  war  on  savage  account,  twenty  or 
thirty  families  had  settled  around  the  fort,  under  protection  of 
its  guns ;  but  as  soon  as  the  war-whoop  again  rang  through  the 
forests,  the  few  Indian  traders  of  the  Ohio  country  who  had  es- 
caped the  tomahawk,  took  refuge  within  its  walls,  and  with  them 
the  families  adjacent.* 

•  Loskiel,  the  Moravian  historian,  a  co-worker  of  Heckewelder  and  Post,  on 
page  99,  relates  a  plot  of  the  Indians  to  capture  the  traders  in  the  vicinity  of  San- 
dusky, which  challenges  a  parallel  for  audacity.     The  traders  were  told  that  the 


Ft.  Pitt  Attacked.  131 

On  the  22d  of  June,  the  first  attack  was  made,  bnt  was  evi- 
dently premature  in  its  conception.  The  fire  was  kept  up  througli- 
ont  the  day  and  the  succeeding  night,  killing  two  men  in  the 
fort.  The  next  morning,  a  parley  ensued,  in  which  a  Delaware 
chiaf,  under  the  guise  "of  friendship,  told  Ecuyer  that  all  the 
western  forts  had  been  taken,  and  if  he  wished  to  save  the  lives 
of  his  soldiers,  af  well  as  his  women  and  children,  he  must  leave 
the  fort  at  once  and  retreat  to  the  English  settlements ;  other- 
wise they  would  all  be  killed  by  the  great  army  of  Indians  who 
were  marching  against  the  place.  Ecuyer  thanked  the  chief  for 
his  good  intentions,  to  which  he  also  retorted  that  as  a  friend  he 
would  advise  him  to  instantly  retreat  into  the  forests,  as  a  large 
English  army  were  on  their  way  to  the  place.  This  informa- 
tion, gravely  told  as  it  was,  nonplussed  the  chief,  and  the  Indi- 
ans betook  themselves  to  the  forest,  thinking  it  might  be  true. 

Four  days  after  this  riddance,  there  came  to  the  fort  a  fugitive 
from  Presque  Isle,  bringing  the  first  positive  tidings  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  war.  The  place  had  been  taken,  and  all  but  him- 
self killed,  was  the  news  he  brought.*  The  same  day,  eight  sol- 
diers, almost  dead  with  hunger,  came  in  from  Ft.  Le  Boeuf.  The 
whole  number  of  their  garrison  was  but  thirteen,  under  charge 
of  Capt.  Price.  They  had  defended  the  place  with  heroic  valor 
till  its  walls  were  half  consumed  by  the  flames,  when,  by  a  se- 
cret exit,  they  made  their  escape  under  cover  of  night,  unbe- 
known to  the  savages.  Pushing  their  way  down  French  Creek 
to  Venango,  with  the  intention  of  helping  to  defend  it,  they 
found  the  place  already  burnt  to  ashes,  while  the  bones  and  half- 
consumed  flesh  of  its  garrison,  which  lay  scattered  around,  ad- 
monished them  of  the  fate  they  had  escaped.  Thence  they  con- 
tinued their  course  down  the  Allegheny  river,  and  finally  reached 
Ft.  Pitt. 

The  next  day,  two  more  fugitives  came  in,  who  had  lagged 
behind  for  want  of  strength  to  travel,  having  been  accidentally 
separated  from  their  companions.  The  fate  of  the  three  remain- 
ing soldiers  never  became  known. 

Ft.  Pitt,  now  severed  from  all  communication  with  the  outer 
world,  kept  a  vigilant  watch  for  the  foe,  who  was  daily  expected, 

(ribes  to  the  west  were  about  to  make  war  on  the  English,  with  the  determination 
to  kill  every  one  of  them.  '  This  fate  could  be  averted  if  the  traders  would  be- 
come their  prisoner?,  by  which  condition  they  could  claim  protection.  Of  course, 
their  arms  must  be  given  up  ;  and,  to  make  the  deception  complete,  they  had  bet- 
ter be  bound.  The  credulous  traders  consented,  submitted  their  muscular  limbs 
to  the  thongs  of  the  savages,  when  they  were  killed  with  little  ceremony,  and 
their  goods  taken. 

*  This  informer  had  fled  before  the  fate  of  the  garrison  was  known.  Christie, 
the  commander,  was  taken  a  captive  to  Detroit,  and  soon  escaped  from  custody 
and  joined  Gladwin.  The  fate  of  the  soldiers  has  never  been  brought  to  light, 
leaving  little  doubt  the*  they  were  killed. 


1S2  Second  Attempt  to  take  the  Fort. 

but  did  not  come  till  the  26th  of  July,  when  tlie  adjacent  woods 
again  became  animated  with  warriors,  tented  outside  of  the 
range  of  its  guns,  hungry  for  revenge.  Before  commencing  hos- 
tilities, tliey  wished  to  hold  a  council.  Shingis,  the  famous  old 
Delaware  chief,  was  the  orator,  and  the  following  is  a  part  of 
his  speech: 

"Brothers,  we  wish  to  hold  fast  the  chair  of  friendship — that 
ancient  chain  which  our  forefathers  held  with  their  brethren  the 
English.  You  have  let  your  end  of  the  chain  fall  to  the  ground, 
but  ours  is  still  fast  in  our  hands.  Why  do  you  complain  that 
ourycung  men  have  fired  at  your  soldiers,  and  killed  your  cattle 
and  your  horses?  You  yourselves  are  the  cause  of  this.  You 
marched  your  armies  into  our  country  and  built  forts  here,  though 
we  told  you  again  and  again  that  we  wished  you  to  remove. 

"My  brothers,  this  laud  is  ours  and  not  yours.  If  you  leave 
this  place  immediately  and  go  home  to  your  wives  and  children, 
no  harm  will  come  of  it ;  but  if  you  stay,  you  must  blame  your- 
selves alone  for  what  may  happen." 

Ten  years  before,  he  had  conferred  with  Washington  on  this 
very  spot,  and  had  rendered  him  essential  service  when  he  came 
to  warn  the  French  out  of  the  country.  Since  that  time,  how- 
ever, Shingis  had  been  forced  into  an  alliance  with  the  French 
by  the  war-cry  of  his  tribe ;  but  since  the  peace  with  France,  he 
had  again  been  an  advocate  for  peace  with  the  English,  but, 
withal,  a  tenacious  defender  of  Indian  rights.  For  this  he  chal- 
lenges our  respectful  memory. 

Ecuyer's  reply  to  his  inadmissible  but  not  unreasonable  re- 
quest (if  the  savages  had  not  forfeited  their  natural  rights),  was 
unnecessarily  harsh.  He  told  him  the  forts  were  built  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Indians,  to  supply  them  with  clothing  and  ammu- 
nition, and  threatened  to  blow  him  to  pieces  if  he  ever  appeared 
again  before  him.  The  chief,  with  accumulated  feelings  of  re- 
sentment, left  the  council  with  Turtle's-Heart  and  his  other  asso- 
ciates, and  immediately  set  about  environing  the  fort.  It  occu- 
pied a  sharp  tongue  of  land  at  the  confluence  of  the  two  rivers, 
which  unite  here.  Its  walls  had  been  built  by  Gen.  Stanwix  in 
1769,  at  so  great  an  expense  that  it  was  regarded  as  a  monument 
of  British  power  in  the  wilds  of  America,  worth  commemorating 
in  the  archives  of  the  British  Museum,  where  drawings  of  it  are 
still  preserved.  Of  course,  any  attempt  of  the  Indians  to  take 
it  was  rash ;  but,  nevertheless,  they  crept  under  its  walls,  along 
the  river,  in  the  night,  buried  themselves  in  holes  in  the  eartli, 
like  ground-hogs,  and  kept  up  a  brisk  but  ineffectual  fire  on  the 
place  for  three  days.  Twenty  of  their  number  being  killed,  they 
withdrew  in  the  night,  and  the  serenity  of  the  fort  was  again  re- 
stored, as  the  Inst   eclio  of  savage  bedlam    rang  from  the  high 


Jiattle  of  Bv^hy  Bun.  133 

tank  across  the  river.     Only  one  man  was  killed  lu  the  fort  and 
six  wounded,  among  whom  was  Ecuyer  slightly. 

To  send  an  army  to  the  relief  of  the  place,  but  more  especially 
to  the  relief  of  the  border  settlements,  was  the  first  pressing  ne- 
cessity, and  Sir  Jeffrey  Amherst,  whose  headquarters  were  still 
at  New  York,  had  already  set  about  doing  this  in  June,  the  pre- 
vious month.  He  had  formed  too  low  an  estimate  of  the  power 
of  the  Indians  for  mischief,  and  had  been  slow  in  his  prepara- 
tions to  meet  the  emergency,  but,  fortunately  for  the  country, . 
the  men  employed  in  the  service  had  made  up  in  efiectivenesa 
for  the  tardiness  of  the  commanding  general. 

To  Col.  Boufjuet  was  given  the  command  of  the  expedition  for 
the  relief  of  Ft.  Pitt.  He  was  mi  able  Swiss  officer,  wiio  had 
served  during  the  French  and  Indian  war.  In  accordance  with 
his  instructions,  after  leaving  Carlisle,  he  took  up  his  march  for 
Ft.  Pitt,  at  the  head  of  600  men.  Tiiis  place  reinforced,  the 
■whole  Pennsylvania  border  would  be  rescued  trom  the  merciless 
forays  of  the  Indians. 

On  the  5th  of  August  he  arrived  at  a  place  called  Bushy  Run, 
twenty-live  miles  from  Ft.  Fitt,  and  a  less  distance  from  the  fa- 
tal field  of  Braddock.  Here  he  was  attacked  by  an  army  of  sav- 
ages, about  equal  to  his  own  in  numbers,  and  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  the  annals  of  Indian  warfare  furnish  no  record  of  a 
more  sanguinary  battle.  For  two  days  the  contest  raged. 
■Charge  after  charge  was  made  by  the  Indians  and  repelled,  till  at 
last  the  victory  was  decided  by  a  retreat  on  the  part  of  Bouquet, 
by  which  timely  piece  of  strategy  the  Indians,  in  their  headlong 
pursuit  after  what  they  supposed  to  be  a  defeated  army,  were 
brought  within  a  fiaidiing  lire  of  Bouquet's  veterans.  A  decisive 
victory  followed,  and  Bouquet  reached  Ft.  Pitt  on  the  10th,  with- 
out further  molestation. 

Never  did  the  red  cross  of  St.  George  shine  with  more  resplen- 
dent luster  than  when,  borne  aloft  by  the  triuin'diant  victors,  it 
suddenly  emerged  from  the  forest  path  into  the  open  glade  that 
environed  the  tort.  The  wounded  soldiers  were  tenderly  nursed, 
and  the  garrison  felt  an  assurance  that  no  farther  trouble  need 
be  feared  from  the  enemy. 

The  ne.xt  spring  Andierst  resigned  his  position  as  commander- 
in  chief  and  Oen.  Gage,  a  more  practical  man,  was  his  succes 
8or.     However  well  he  was  qualified  to  command  large  bodies 
of  men,  he  had  failed  in  the  minor  details  of  the  late  Indian  cam- 
paign. 

While  Gladwin  had  enough  to  do  to  keep  his  savage  besiegers 
from  breaking  over  his  frail  defenses  at  Detroit,  Amherst  liad 
ordered  him  to  garrison  the  forts  that  had  been  taken  at  Michil- 
mackinac  and  other  places.  lie  further  showed  his  mistake!i 
notions  of  the  situation   by  ofl;*ering  a  reward  of  one  hundred 


134  Indian  Council  at  Niagara. 

pounds  to  any  one  who  would  kill  Pontiac.  Instructions  to  this 
effect  v/ere  sent  to  Gladwin  August  10th,  1763,  *  but  there  is  no 
evidence  that  he  ever  fulfilled  the  indiscreet  measure ;  had  he 
done  which,  the  resentment  of  the  Indians  would  have  been 
stimulated  to  a  higher  pitch  than  ever. 

The  borders  of  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania  were  still  in  the 
breach,  and  it  was  determined  to  send  an  expedition  into  the  in- 
terior beyond  the  Ohio,  to  set  at  rest  any  future  apprehension 
of  invasion.  The  command  of  it  was  to  be  given  to  Col.  Bou- 
quet. It  was  equally  important  to  relieve  Detroit,  and  an  expe- 
dition was  to  be  sent  for  that  purpose,  under  Gen.  Bradstreet. 

The  mistaken  policy  of  Gen.  Amherst,  by  which  he  had  re- 
fused the  offer  of  provincial  troops  for  the  service,  had  been  suf- 
ficiently demonstrated  by  the  tardy  progress  of  the  war  for  the 
past  year,  and  it  was  now  determined  by  Gen.  Gage  to  raise  a 
sufficient  force  of  colonial  troops  to  make  the  two  expedition* 
planned  for  the  campaign  of  1764  a  success. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly  passed  a 
resolution  to  raise  1000  men  ;  New  York  was  called  upon  for 
1400;  New  Jersey  for  600;  and  New  England  for  her  propor- 
tionate number.  Virginia  was  only  required  to  defend  her  own 
borders ;  but,  besides  doing  this,  she  generously  raised  300  men 
to  fill  the  deficiency  of  Pennsylvania  deserters  from  the  rank.'^ 
after  her  quota  had  been  filled  for  Bouquet's  expedition.  The 
Quakers  were  the  cause  of  this  delinquency.  They  were  in  favor 
of  conciliation  with  the  Indians,  rather  than  war;  but  at  the 
same  time  there  was  a  ruffian  element  in  that  State,  whose  per- 
sistent practice  in  the  other  extreme  went  beyond  the  bounds  of 
humanity.  Many  peaceful  Indians,  against  whom  no  evidence 
of  disloyalty  could  be  brought,  had  been  murdered  by  these 
men.f 

Of  the  two  expeditions  planned  for  the  campaign  of  1764, 
Bradstreet's  was  ready  first.  Late  in  June,  at  the  head  of  1200 
men,  he  started  from  Albany;  thence  up  the  Mohawk  river  he 
took  his  course,  crossed  Oneida  lake,  and  weat  down  the  river 
connecting  it  with  Lake  Ontario  at  Oswego.  From  this  place 
Ft.  Niagara  was  soon  reached.  Here  his  boats  were  drawn  up 
the  bank,  and  the  whole  army  tented  under  the  friendly  guns  of 
Ft.  Niagara. 

Sir  William  Johnson  had  summoned  a  grand  Indian  council  to 
meet  here,  and  the  red  delegations  had  already  begun  to  assem- 
ble. Even  to  the  far  distant  tribes  along  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  and  on  the  Ottawa  river  of  Canada,  the  trusty  Indian 
messengers  of  Johnson  had  carried  invitations  to  meet  the  Eng- 
lish Father  at  Ft.  Niagara  and  listen  to  liis  speech.     Had  thi» 

•Bancroft,  vol.  V.,  p.  13a.  f  Loskiel  ;  Heel. o welder 


Bradstreet  starts  to  Relieve  Detroit.  1'>.5 

convention  been  called  the  year  before,  no  notice  would  have 
been  taken  of  it,  and  the  messengers  who  carried  the  invitation 
would  have  been  lucky  to  have  escaped  alive  from  the  Ottawas 
or  the  Shawanese,  and  would  have  been  received  in  no  friendly 
manner  by  any  of  the  western  tribes ;  but  now  the  situation  was 
changed.  The  war  had  been  persisted  in  for  over  a  year  and  the 
Indians  were  nearly  destitute  of  ammunition,  as  well  as  such 
other  elements  of  civilization  as  their  fur  trade  for  the  past  cen- 
tury had  rendered  indispensable  to  their  existence.  Under  this 
duress,  all  the  tribes  of  the  country  responded  to  the  call,  though 
the  Ottawas,  Shewanese,  Ohio  Delawares,  and  Senecas,  came 
with  reluctance. 

The  object  of  the  council  was  to  secure  the  friendship  and  con- 
fidence of  such  as  were  wavering  in  their  loyalty  to  Pontiae,  and 
these  now  constituted  the  majority  of  the  entire  Indian  popula- 
tion. Over  two  thousand  warriors  were  present,  all  told.  To 
each  tribe,  Sir  William,  with  consummate  skill,  addressed  a  few 
words,  calculated  to  turn  their  wills  in  favor  of  the  English.  A 
judicious  distribution  of  presents  and  a  moderate  dispensation 
of  tobacco  and  whisky  did  the  rest.  All  that  was  expected  now 
being  accomplished,  the  diiferent  delegations  separately  with- 
drew, and  the  tumult  that  had  reigned  around  Niagara  for  weeks 
finally  died  away,  as  the  last  savage  band  took  up  their  march 
for  their  distant  lodges  in  the  wilderness,  each  with  an  increased 
respect  for  the  English. 

The  way  was  now  clear  for  the  advance  of  Gen.  Bradstreet's 
army,  and,  reinforced  by  200  friendly  Indians  and  a  few  con)pa- 
nies  of  Canadian  French,  he  embarked  from  Ft.  Schlosser,  above 
the  Falls,  on  the  8th  of  August.*  Coasting  along  the  southern 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  in  accordance  with  his  instructions  from 
Gen.  Gage  to  act  against  the  Ohio  Indians,  he  first  landed  at 
Presque  Isle.  Here  a  delegation  of  Shawanese  and  Del  iwarea 
came  to  his  camp  with  peace  ))roposals.  The  occasion  was  un- 
timely for  a  treaty,  and  the  little  band  who  proposed  it  by  no 
means  represented  the  policy  of  their  tribes.  Bradstreet,  how- 
ever, waived  the  ordinary  conventionalities  of  savage  diplomacy 
and  made  a  treaty  with  them,  based  on  the  conditions  that  tiiey 
should  deliver  up  their  captives.  No  harm  could  have  come 
from  this,  had  the  conditions  been  fulfilled  ;  but  on  the  arrival 
of  Bradstreet  at  Sandusky,  the  place  assigned  for  the  delivery 
of  the  captives,  instead  of  doing  this,  the  wily  redskins  amused 
him  further  by  promising  to  conclude  a  d^efinite  treaty  on  his  ar- 
rival at  Detroit.  By  this  clever  ruse,  the  Ohio  tribes  had  avert- 
ed the  vengeance  of  the  English  for  a  time  ;  but  ere  long  they 

•Alexander  Henry  had  been  redeemed  with  other  captives,  after  being  taken 
to  Montreal,  joined  Bradstreet's  army  at  Niagara,  and  returned  as  far  as  Detroit 
with  him. 


]8()  •        Peace  Council  at  Detroit. 

were  destined  to  answer  to  another  officer,  and  be  forced  to  ful- 
fill the  conditions  which  as  yet  thev  had  evaded. 

The  summer  was  now  well  uigh  spent,  and  Bradstreet  took  his 
departure  from  Sandusky,  and,  continuing  his  ceurse  along  the 
lake  shore,  arrived  at  Detroit,  his  final  destination,  on  the  26th 
of  August.  His  force  was  too  formidable  for  even  the  most  hos- 
tile Indians  to  think  of  attacking,  and  his  passag^e  up  the  river 
was  greeted  with  cheers  from  the  Wyandots,  who,  the  year  be- 
fore, had  taken  sixty  captives  from  Cuyler's  detachment,  and 
had  doubtless  eaten  tlieir  full  share  of  the  soup  made  of  their 
flesh  ;  but  now  they  were  ready  to  make  peace,  not  because  they 
were  at  lieart  better  reconciled  to  the  English,  but  because  they 
were  unable  to  protract  the  war  for  want  of  means. 

The  garrison  were  in  transports  as  boat  after  boat  pulled  up 
to  the  landing  opposite  the  fort,  to  supply  their  places  with  fresh 
men.  The  tedium  of  fifteen  months  isolation  from  the  freedom 
of  the  surrounding  country  was  now  relieved.  Confinement, 
even  in  a  palace  filled  with  luxuries,  soon  becomes  irksome. 
The  glitter  of  its  garnished  walls  palls  upon  the  senses — the 
bounties  of  the  loard  cloy  the  appetite — elastic  cushions  lose 
their  comfort — and  downy  beds  refuse  rest.  How,  then,  must 
the  heart  of  the  soldier  rebound  when  released  from  his  pent-up 
and  comfortless  barracks,  and  he  is  again  allowed  to  go  forth 
without  the  fear  of  being  shot  by  the  first  one  he  meets  ? 

After  the  first  eflfusion  of  military  courtesies  was  over,  Brad- 
street  set  about  the  business  of  the  campaign ;  but,  in  truth, 
there  was  little  to  be  accomplished.  Pontiac,  the  moving  sj)irit 
of  the  war,  was  at  the  Maumee  Kapids,  surrounded  by  a  sort  of 
forlorn  hope  of  unrelenting  spirits  like  himself,  who  were  not 
yet  cultured  into  a  submissive  frame  of  mind.  The  year  be- 
fore, Pontiac's  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Indians  to  drive 
the  English  out  of  the  country  was  unshaken ;  now  he  was  a  fu- 
gitive, and  time  was  required  to  make  a  bridge  of  reconciliation 
over  the  intervening  chasm — or,  in  other  words,  to  come  down 
to  the  practicable,  and  make  the  best  of  the  situation.  As  ho 
could  not  3'et  do  this,  he  refused  to  attend  a  council  to  which  he 
had  been  invited  by  Bradstreet,  to  be  held  at  Detroit  on  the  10th 
,  of  September.  The  Ottawas  were,  however,  represented  by 
Wasson,  the  chief  who,  in  a  fit  of  revenge,  had  slain  the  estim- 
able Col.  Can)pbell  the  previous  year.  The  other  belligerent 
tribes,  except  the  Delawares  and  Shawanese,  were  represented 
by  their  respective  chiefs ;  but  the  convention,  lacking  the  true 
Indian  spirit  of  reciprocity,  was  a  tame  affair. 

Bradstreet  demanded  that  they  should  become  subjects  of  the 
king  of  England  and  call  him  father,  to  which  the  Indians  a»- 
«onted,  without  comprehenaing  the  nature  of  the  obligation. 
\V  ssnn  made  a  speech  that,  but  for  its  brevity,  might  have  been 


Bouquef  8  Advance  into  the  Indian  Country.  137 

uttered  bj  tlie  Bishop  of  London:  "Last  year,  God  forsook  us. 
God  has  now  opened  our  eyes.  It  is  God's  will  our  hearts  are 
altered ;  it  is  God's  will  there  should  be  peace  and  tranquility 
t)ver  the  face  of  the  earth  and  of  the  waters."  Such  were  the 
words  of  the  sentimental  savage,  who  appeals  to  have  been  the 
orator  of  the  day  on  the  part  of  the  Indians. 

Wlien  the  council  was  over,  Bradstreet  sent  a  suitable  force,  un- 
der Cupt.  Howard,  to  take  possession  of  and  garrison  the  posts  of 
Michiliinackinac,  Green  Bay,  and  Ste.  Marie — all  of  which  was 
accomplished  without  opposition. 

He  now  started  on  his  return,  stopping  at  Sandusky  on  his 
way,  to  enforce  the  fulfillment  of  the  slip-shod  treaty  he  had 
made  with  the  Shawanese  and  Delawares  on  his  outward  pas- 
sage. These  tribes,  however,  were  too  cunning  to  be  easily 
brought  to  terms.  After  wasting  his  time  in  procrastination  till 
the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  warlike  measures.  Brad- 
street  hastily  departed,  without  securing  the  rendition  of  a  single 
captive  or  any  other  substantial  marks  of  submission.  For  this 
ineflScient  conduct  he  was  justly  censured  by  Gen.  Gage. 

Let  us  now  return  to  Ft.  Pitt,  from  which  the  expedition  un- 
der Bouquet  was  to  penetrate  the  savage  realms  of  the  Indians, 
in  places  hitherto  held  sacred  to  barbarism,  if  the  expression  is 
admissible.  It  had  been  the  intention  of  Gen.  Gage  to  have 
Bradstreet  at  Sandusky,  fighting  tiie  Wyandots  and  Delawares, 
while  Bouquet  was  attacking  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Musking- 
um ;  but  this  strategic  co-operation  miscarried,  owing  to  the  hin- 
drances in  getting  the  forces  into  the  field,  destined  tor  the  inte- 
rior service  under  Bouquet.  It  was  not  till  the  5th  of  August 
that  Bouquet's  army  were  ready.  Carlisle  was  its  place  of  ren- 
dezvous. It  consisted  of  the  Pennsylvania  provincials,  200 
friendly  Indians,  and  tlie  4'2d  and  60th  regiments  of  British  reg 
ulars.  On  the  13th  the  army  reached  Ft.  Loudon.  Here  Gen. 
Boquet  received  a  despatch  from  Gen.  Bradstreet,  dated  Presquo 
Isle,  August  14th,  informing  him  of  the  treaty  he  had  made  at 
that  place  with  the  Delawares  and  Shawanese ;  but  his  quick 
penetration  readily  saw  that  Bradstreet  had  exceeded  his  instruc- 
tions in  making  the  treaty,  and  that  it  had  no  binding  force  with 
the  Indians,  and  he  pressed  on  with  the  campaign. 

On  his  arrival  at  Ft.  Pitt,  ten  Indians  appeared  on  the  oppo- 
^iite  bank  of  the  river,  wishinir  to  have  a  talk  with  him;  bnt 
when  boats  were  sent  to  ferry  them  over,  only  three  ventured  to 
go.  These  not  giving  a  consistent  account  of  their  good  inten- 
tions were  detained  as  spies.  On  the  20th  of  September  he 
tested  the  fidelity  of  one  of  them,  by  sending  him  to  the  Dela- 
wares and  Shawanese,  reminding  them  of  certain  hostile  acts 
they  had  committed  since  they  had  signed  the  treaty  with  Brad- 
street.    This  message  delivered,  he  was  to  proceed  to  Detroit 


138  Demands  the  Rendition  of  Captives. 

and  deliver  another  at  that  place ;  in  default  of  the  faithful  per- 
formance of  which,  the  two  remaining  comrades  of  the  messen- 
ger still  in  the  custody  of  Bouquet,  were  to  be  put  to  death. 

On  the  3d  of  October  all  were  ready,  and  the  first  white  array 
of  Americans  that  ever  penetrated  the  interior  of  the  West  took 
up  its  march  toward  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country.  It  num- 
bered 1500  men,  besides  teamsters  and  a  goodly  number  of 
mothers  whose  children  had  been  taken  captive  by  the  Indians, 
while  among  the  soldiers  were  not  a  few  whose  wives  had  been 
abducted  into  savage  captivity.  On  the  5th,  the  army  reached 
Logstown,  the  place  rendered  memorable  as  the  spot  where 
Washington  had  held  council  with  Half  King  eleven  years  be- 
fore. On  the  6th,  continuing  its  course  westwardly,  it  passed  a 
village  built  by  the  French  and  deserted  by  them  when  Forbes 
took  Ft.  Duquesne.  On  the  14th,  while  encamped  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Muskingum,  the  Indian  messenger  despatched 
from  Ft.  Pitt  with  letters  to  Bradstreet,  came  in.  He  had 
been  detained  by  the  Delawares  till  Bouquet's  army  had  penetra- 
ted the  country,  and,  not  desiring  to  keep  him  any  longer,  they 
had  despatched  him  back  to  Bouquet,  to  inform  him  that  they 
would  soon  send  in  peace  proposals. 

Bouquet  wa3  now  in  the  heart  of  the  Inaian  country,  and  could 
easily  descend  upon  the  various  Indian  towns  and  destroy  their 
crops,,  in  case  they  should  not  comply  with  his  demands.  Of 
this  the  Indians  were  well  aware,  and,  on  tne  17th,  a  large  del- 
egation of  Seneca,  Delaware,  and  Shawanese  chiefs  came  iii 
with  peace  proposals.  The  Delawares  had  violated  their  treaty 
made  with  Bradstreet  at  Presque  Isle,  and  were  at  their  wits' 
ends  to  know  how  to  frame  a  plausible  apology  •  but  they  made 
the  best  of  the  situation,  smothered  tneir  pride,  and  asked  for 
peace.  To  these  overtures  Bouquet,  in  stern  language,  reminded 
t».e  Indians  of  their  treachery  and  of  the  feeling  of  just  resent- 
ment which  filled  the  hearts  of  mothers,  brothers,  sisters,  and 
husbands  of  captives  now  in  their  possession.  These  aggrieved 
relatives  were  on  the  spot  to  receive  them;  and  he  closed  by 
saying,  "I  give  you  twelve  days  to  deliver  into  my  hands,  at 
Wakiitamake,  all  the  prisoners  in  your  possession,  without  ex- 
ception— Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  women  and  children,  wheth- 
er adopted  in  your  tribes,  married  or  living  among  you  under 
any  pretense  whatever,  together  with  all  negroes.  And  you  are 
to  furnish  the  said  prisoners  with  clothing,  provisions,  and  horse* 
to  carry  them  to  Ft.  Pitt.  When  you  have  full"  complied  with 
these  conditions,  you  shall  know  on  what  terms  you  may  obtaiu 
the  peace  you  sue  for." 

The  day  of  humiliation  for  the  Indians  had  now  come,  from 
which  there  was  no  escape,  and  they  made  haste  to  do  the  bid- 
ding of  Bouquet.     Eighteen  captives  were  :.nmediately  brought 


Rendition  of  the  Captives.  f8{> 

in  by  the  Delawares,  and  the  other  tribes  made  preparations  to 
falfil  the  required  conditions,  though  tlie  Sliawanese,  in  tlieir 
despair,  were  tormented  between  hope  and  fear,  and  at  one  time 
formed  *he  cruel  resolution  to  kill  all  the  captives  in  their  hands, 
under  an  impression  that  the  English  had  come  to  destroy  their 
whole  tribe.  Happily,  however,  this  mistaken  idea  was  correct- 
ed, and,  on  the  12th  of  the  succeeding  month,  nearly  all  the 
captives  had  been  brought  in,  and  the  tinal  conference  was  held, 
a  few  miles  distant  from  the  place  lirst  appointed. 

The  number  of  captives  brought  in  was  206,  of  whom  32 
males  and  58  females  were  from  Virginia,  and  49  males  and  67 
females  from  Pennsylvania.  Many  of  them  were  children  who 
had  never  known  any  other  but  Indian  mothers,  and  were  in  na 
wise  different  from  other  children  of  the  forest,  except  a  slight 
distinction  in  the  color  of  the  skin,  and  even  this  had  been  darkly 
shaded  by  the  sun  and  wind.  They  were  now  brought  into  the 
presence  of  their  own  mothers,  from  whose  breasts  they  had 
been  savagely  torn  during  the  French  and  Indian  war ;  and  ma- 
ny a  mother's  heart  was  filled  with  joy  at  the  restoration  of  a 
long-lost  child,  whose  uncertain  fate  had,  ever  since  its  capture, 
been  a  painful  image  of  despair,  relieved  only  by  dreams  of 
hope.  Other  mothers,  who  looked  in  vain  among  the  captives^ 
for  their  lost  cliildren,  were  doomed  to  a  redoubled  sense  of  grief, 
as  conviction  was  forced  upon  them  that  they  bad  fallen  victims  to 
the  tomahawk.  No  small  amount  of  tender  persuasion  was  re- 
quired to  reconcile  the  redeemed  waifs  to  their  natural  mothers, 
and,  when  the  parting  scene  came,  their  adopted  mothers  gave 
vent  to  tears  and  lamentations,  which  measured  the  depths  of 
their  affection  for  these  objects  of  their  care.  Among  the  youth 
who  still  retained  recollections  of  their  native  homes,  many  were 
unwilling  subjects  of  rendition.  Some  of  them  had  to  be  bound 
and  brought  in  by  force,  and  after  they  had  been  returned  to 
civilized  society,  took  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to  escape 
from  their  kindred  into  savage  life. 

Among  the  adult  captives,  some  of  the  young  women  had  mar- 
ried Indian  braves,  and  were  living  in  harmonious  marital  rela- 
tions with  their  lords,  contented  to  do  the  drudgery  of  the  lodge 
like  good  squaws.  An  example  of  fidelity  on  the  part  of  a  Min- 
^o  chief  to  a  young  female  captive  from  Pennsylvania,  whom  he 
intended  to  make  his  wife,  is  recorded,  which,  in  constancy  and 
devotion,  ought  to  satisfy  the  most  exacting  coquetry  of  courtly 
etiquette.  With  melting  tenderness,  he  parted  from  the  object 
of  his  affections  at  the  camp  where  the  captives  were  received, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Muskingum,  and,  impelled  by  those  emo- 
tions that  lovers  can  understand  better  than  the  pen  of  History 
can  describe,  he  hung  about  the  camp,  with  no  reasonable  hope 
of  ever  seeing  her  again,  and  every  day  brought  some  choice  bit 


140  Return  of  the  Army. 

of  food  for  her.  Wlien  the  army  of  Bouquet  withdrew,  he  fol- 
lowed it  all  the  way  to  the  frontiers,  continuing  his  daily  supply 
of  choice  game  for  the  benefit  of  the  mistress  of  his  affections. 
Had  he  entered  the  settlements,  he  would  have  been  shot  at 
sight.  Of  this  he  was  amply  warned  by  the  soldiers,  and,  just 
before  reaching  them,  he  reluctantly  lingered  behind,  while  the 
receding  columns  of  the  army  that  bore  away  his  mistress  van- 
ished forever  from  his  sight,  when  he  retraced  his  long  and  lone- 
some path  to  the  wilderness  lodges  of  his  people. 

Bouquet  left  his  camp  on  the  18th  of  November,  and  arrived 
at  Ft.  Fitt  on  the  2Sth.  Here  he  left  a  garrison  of  regulars  aad 
withdrew  with  the  volunteers  and  captives  to  the  settlements. 
The  succeeding  January,  1765,  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania 
voted  him  a  resolution  of  thanks  for  his  efficient  services.     Vir- 

finia  did  the  same  soon  afterward.     The  next  year  he  went  to 
'ensacola,  where  he  died. 

In  vain  may  the  records  of  progress  in  civilization  be  searched 
for  a  parallel  to  the  episode  presented  at  the  rendition  of  these 
captives.  Here  two  extremes  came  into  rivalship  with  eacli  oth- 
er, unsiiackled  by  the  influences  which  stimulate  lazy  intellects 
and  feeble  purposes  by  emulation  in  the  world  of  culture  and 
education.  Savage  life  imposes  no  restraint  upon  the  individual 
except  what  might  come  from  a  loose  estimate  of  social  stand- 
ing. A  number  of  scalps  taken  from  an  enemy  are  essential  to 
the  reputation  of  a  warrior,  and  a  bountiful  supply  of  game  se- 
cures fame  as  a  hunter.  These  honors  are  hedged  in  by  no  mo- 
nopoly or  intricate  theories  based  on  precedent,  and  it  is  no  mar- 
vel that  the  simple  child  of  the  forest,  whether  a  renegade  from 
white  settlements  or  an  Indian,  should  stand  appalled  before  the 
labyrinthian  mazes  through  which  a  high  niche  may  be  attained 
in  the  great  temple  of  civilization,  and  shrink  from  entering  the 
lists  for  rivalship  for  a  place  in  this  temple,  which  appears  like  a 
sealed  mystery  to  him.  Under  this  forlorn  duress,  he  buries 
himself  in  the  forest  and  studies  the  physical  features  of  nature, 
with  no  possible  clue  to  its  grander  beauties  revealed  by  science. 
His  wants  are  measured  by  nature's  demands  only — blind  to 
the  imfathomable  depths  of  educated  longings  for  more.  Eccen- 
tric philosophy  peculiar  "o  fnmtier  life  sometimes  prefers  the 
savage  state,  rather  than  brook  the  ills  of  what,  with  no  in.pro- 
priety,  may  be  called  the  loose  screws  in  our  civilization,  which 
time  may  tighten  up  and  perfect  the  beneficent  fabric  held  to- 
gether by  them,  into  a  great  leveler  of  all  distinctions  not  based 
on  merit. 

[Note. — Immediately  after  the  return  of  Bouquet  to  Philadelphia,  a  book  was 
published,  giving  an  historical  account  of  his  expedition,  which  had  excited  uni- 
versal emotions  of  gratitude.  It  was  reprinted  in  London  by  T.  Jefferies,  shortly 
afterward,  bearing  date  ol  1766.     It  forms  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  account.] 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Illinois  Countrij — Slavery — The  Lead  Trade — LaClede^s 
Grant — Ft.  Charires — Settlement  of  St.  Louis — Louisiana 
ceded  to  Spain — The  English  under  Major  I^oftus.,  attempt 
to  penetrate  to  the  Illinois  Country  hy  icay  of  the  Missis- 
sippi— Are  repulsed — Geo.  Croghan — He  advances  to  the 
Illinois  Country — Is  taken  prisoner — Is  released — Holds  a 
Council  with  his  Indian  captors,  and  hrings  them  to  terms 
favorable  to  the  English — Items  from  his  Journal — The 
Illinois  Country  taken  possession,  of  by  Captain  Sterling 
— Proclamation  of  Gen.  Gage — Early  Governors  of  the 
Illinois  Country — Pontiac  in  Council  with  Sir  William 
Johnson — He  resigns  his  ambitious  designs — His  death 
and  its  consequences — Chicago,  the  Indian  Chief 

At  the  extreme  verge  of  settlements  in  the  gx'eat  Interior  the 
French  villages  of  the  Illinois  country  still  nestled  in  quietude 
among  the  vine-clad  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi.  Ever  since  1720 
the  lead  mines  of  Galena  had  been  worked  by  individual  enter- 
prise, in  which  branch  of  industry  the  Indians  had  been  sharers 
with  the  French.  Philip  Francis  Reynault  had  been  the  |)rinie 
mover  in  this  trade;  the  same  who  in  1720  had  introduced  slavery 
among  the  French  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  and  the  adjacent 
villages,  to  work  the  mines  under  the  impression  that  the  coun- 
try abounded  in  mineral  wealth.  The  lead  trade,  besides  the 
trades  in  peltries  and  furs,  had  been  turned  toward  Kew  Orleans 
since  Fort  Frontenac  had  been  taken  in  1758,  during  tlie  height 
of  the  late  war,  and  now  that  it  had  terminated  in  despoiling 
the  French  of  all  their  American  possessions  east  of  the  Missis- 
bippi,  except  New  Orleans,  it  was  in  the  natural  course  of  events 
that  they  should  by  every  means  in  their  power  exert  themselves 
to  secure  the  trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  to  themselves,  by 
making  New  Orleans,  which  was  still  a  French  port,  a  com- 
mercial outlet  to  the  sea,  for  the  still  immense  possessions  of 
France  west  of  the  Mississippi  river. 


142  iSt.  Louis  /Settled. 

"With  this  end  in  view,  Pierre  Ligueste  La  Clede,  in  1763, 
obtained  a  grant  for  trading  in  the  upjier  country,  from  M.  D. 
Abbadie,  the  French  Governor  of  Louisiana,  -which  territory 
embraced  tlie  entire  country  on  the  immediate  west  bank  of  tlie 
Mississippi,  of  wiiich  New  Orleans,  on  the  east  bank,  was  the 
metropolis.  He  immediately  organized  a  company  under  the 
style  of  La  Clede,  Maxon  &  Co.,  purchased  a  stock  of  goods, 
and  starting  up  the  river,  reached  a  small,  missionary  station 
named  St.  Genevieve,  on  the  third  of  November.  Here  he  would 
have  fixed  his  headquarters,  but  as  he  could  find  no  ])lace  to  store 
liis  goods,  lie  crossed  the  Mississippi  and  established  himself  at 
Ft.  Chartres.  Though  the  place  was  still  in  French  possession, 
it  M'as  liable  at  any  time  to  be  shadowed  by  an  English  flag,  ac- 
cording to  the  treaty  of  peace,  and  to  establish  himself  perma- 
nently under  French  rule,  he  determined  to  lay  out  a  town 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  as  a  grand  commercial  center  to 
which  the  trade  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  should  tend.  Every- 
thing was  made  ready  on  t^jc  fifteentli  of  February,  1764,  and 
this  was  tlie  date  Avhen  the  ground  was  first  scarred  for  his  trad- 
ing post,  where  the  city  of  St.  Louis  now  stands.  Shortly  after- 
wards, he  laid  <5ut  streets  from  which  began  the  great  city  whose 
marvelous  growth  has  found  no  rival  in  the  whole  interior,  except 
Oliicago;  nor  did  its  rivalship  begin  imtil  a  late  period,  even 
witliin  the  memory  of  many  of  her  present  citizens. 

Its  name,  after  Louis  XIV.,  is  a  monument  grand  as  it  is 
enduring,  of  early  French  power  in  America.  That  the  site  was 
well  cliosen,  her  future  greatness  has  proved.  Here  the  hydraulic 
furces  of  nature,  if  rivers  may  be  called  such,  gather  their  tribu- 
tary waters  from  the  AUeghanies  to  the  Itocky  Mountains  to  a 
common  center,  not  distant  from  the  site  of  the  city,  while  below 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  not  a  spot  could  be  found  above  New 
Orleans  which  could  command  extensive  connections  by  naviga- 
ble waters,  with  any  large  amount  of  territory. 

Many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois  country  crossed  the 
river  and  joined  La  Clede's  settlement,  in  order  to  remain  under 
the  rule  of  their  native  land,  but,  alas  for  their  loyalty  to  the 
Lilies!  The  French  King  had  already,  on  November  second, 
1762,  by  the  secret  treaty  of  St.  Ildetonso,  ceded  Louisiana  to 
Spain,  and  ere  a  year's  residence,  they  were  astonished  by  the 
publication  of  the  treaty  which  made  them  subjects  of  Spain — 
a  country  which  they  despised. 

When  the  news  came,  it  was  received  in  New  Orleans  with  a 
storm  of  indignation — tasking  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  officers 
■  of  the  French  crown  to  suppress  a  rebellion  on  the  spot,  rather 
than  come  under  Spanish  rule.  Abbadie,  the  governor,  was  in 
feeble  health,  and  the  universal  discontent  weighed  lieavily  upon 


English  Repulse  on  the  Mississippi.  143 

him,  when,  as  if  to  add  to  the  ireneral  turmoil,  an  importunate 
dek'i^atiun  of  Indians  came  to  him  from  Pontiac,  begging  assist- 
anetT  wlierewith  to  renew  tlie  war  against  tlie  English.  These 
could  not  be  tr.rned  away  without  a  respectful  hearing  which 
was  granted,  and  a  softened  rej^lv  made  by  the  amiable  official 
who  survived  tlie  accunnilatcd  agitation  but  two  or  three  days, 
passing  away  with  his  mind  distracted  by  the  vanishing  fortunes 
of  French  power  in  America. 

The  destinies  of  the  immense  interior,  with  its  forests  and 
prairies,  its  rivers  and  its  lakes,  spread  out  in  a  mysterious  ex- 
panse on  the  face  of  nature,  were  now.  by  the  fortunes  of  war,  se- 
<.-ured  to  the  English;  but  how  to  take  i)ussession  of  them  was  yet 
a  problem  not  fully  solved.  In  17(54  the  English  took  possession 
rif  Florida  by  virtue  of  a  treaty  with  Spain  of  the  preceding 
vear,*  and  from  thence  an  English  post  was  established  on 
Bayou  Manchie,  on  the  ]V[ississippi  river.  From  the  latter  place 
Major  Loftus  was  ordered  to  push  his  way  up  the  Mississippi 
with  a  force  of  three  hundred  men,  to  take  possession  of  the  Illi- 
nois country. 

While  laboring  against  the  current  on  his  way.  with  his  lum- 
bersome  barges,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  by  the  Tunica  Indians, 
who  poured  a  volley  of  shot  among  his  men,  first  from  one  side 
of  the  river  and  next  from  the  other,  when  he  immediately 
retreated  to  Pensacola;  and  the  scheme  of  reaching  the  Illinois 
coTnitry  by  the  Avay  of  the  Mississippi  was  indefinitely  post- 
])oned,  or  rather  substituted  by  a  more  direct  apjjroach  to  it  by 
the  way  of  the  Ohio,f  and  up  the  Mississippi  when  it  was  leached. 
This  route  would  bring  the  English  direct  to  Ft.  Chartres,  the 
strongliold  of  the  French,  withi.ut  a  wilderness  inarch  among  a 
]>eople  whose  love  for  them  had  become  a  passion. 

*Diirinir  the  Amprican  Revolution  in  1781,  the  Spaniards  wrested  Florida 
fnnn  the  Kii<jlish,  and  at  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1783,  it  was  guaranteed  to  tliat 
]i(>wer,  and  retained  till  it  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Spain,  in  1818. 

tin  a  letter  from  James  Rivington,  of  New  ^  ork.  to  Sir  Wm.  Johnson,  dated 
FeliniaiT  20.  1764,  the  tollowing  passage  occur^^.  which  is  inserted  to  show  the 
furlorn  eharacter  with  wliieli  any  att^nnpt  to  penetrate  the  Interior  at  tliattime 
was  regarded:  "  'J'he  22nd  Regiment,  consisting  of  oflO  Men  under  Majr.  An. 
Loftus,  is  gone  up  the  !Mis,-<is?ipi  to  tiikv  post  lif  they  can  I  at  Fort  Chartres,  in 
I  he  Illinois  Coun^-  ,  Query,  how  viiany  wdl  return  to  give  accounts  of  the 
tho  rest?"  At  th.  ,^lose  of  the  letter,  speaking  of  Gen.  Amherst,  he  says; 
"The  ship  New  Hope  arrived  from  EngUiml  on  Saturday  morning;  in  her  came 
an  otticer  who  atKrms  that  there  is  an  extreme  gnat  outcry  against  General 
Amherst,  wcl»  is  supported  by  all  the  army  that  served  in  America  now  in  Eng- 
land &  that  Col.  Lee  ot  y^  44th  is  now  emploj'ing  liimselt  in  writing  upon  the 
conduct  of  that  otKcer  during  his  command  in  this  country." 

Mss.  papers  of  Sir  William  Johnson:  see  Doc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  809. 

It  evident  that  the  glorious  termination  of  the  war  was  due  more  to  the  sol- 
diers than  to  the  leadership  of  Amhei-st,  whose  Procrustean  rules  were  ill  adapt- 
od  to  bush  ftghting. — [Author 


144  CrogharCs  Expedition. 

The  situation  was  complicatetl  by  a  triple  combination  of  ad- 
verse influences,  and  reqnired  the  utmost  dit^cretion  <jn  the  part 
of  those  enti'usted  with  the  service  of  overcominoj  the  obstacles 
in  tlie  way  of  establishing^  En_i;lish  authority  in  this  remote 
frontier,  where  a  unanimous  feeling  went  aprainst  it.  The  year 
before  Pontiac  had  been  th;  re  and  exhausted  his  j>owers  of  sav- 
age rhetoric  to  enlst  the  French  in  his  desperate  cause,  and  re- 
new the  attack  on  the  English.  The  discreet  St.  Ange,  who  held 
military  command  of  the  country,  was  at  his  wits'  end  to  know 
how  to  answer  the  importunate  hero  whose  schemes  were  as  im- 
practicable as  his  popularity  was  universal,  but  by  dint  of  much 
circumspection  managed  to  preserve  his  good  fellowship  with 
the  Indians  by  a  very  respectful  demeanor  towards  Pontiac, 
while  he  declined  any  aid  to  his  cause.  The  irresponsible  traders, 
however,  did  not  share  this  wise  policy  which  would  bring  no 
grists  to  their  mill,  whatever  it  might  do  for  the  public  good; 
for  when  the  English  came,  they  would  have  to  either  take  a 
subordinate  interest  under  them,  or  quit  their  calling.  Under 
this  contingency  they  did  their  utmost  to  inflame  the  minds  of 
the  Indians  against  the  English. 

Even  in  those  priniitive  times  commercial  rivalship  between 
the  northern  route  to  the  sea,  by  the  way  of  the  Ohio,  in  compe- 
tition to  the  already  established  thoroughfare  of  the  Mississippi, 
was  not  without  its  influence,  and  a  double  precaution  became 
necessary  in  the  next  attempt  to  penetrate  these  outermost 
bounds  of  French  settlements,  which  had  as  yet  enjoyed  an  unin- 
terrupted peace  during  the  past  ten  years  of  sanguinary  war. 
Sir  William  Johnson,  who  wf\3  Superintendent  of  Indian  afiairs, 
had  in  his  emploj-^  an  able  ofiicer  named  George  Croghan,  who 
acted  as  his  deputy  at  distant  points  beyond  his  reach,  and  he 
was  selected  by  Gen.  Gage  as  the  fittest  person  known  to  advance 
into  the  country  still  held  by  the  French  and  influence  both 
them  and  the  Indians  in  favor  of  the  English,  as  a  preparatory 
ste])  to  pave  the  way  for  the  force  which  was  soon  to  follow. 
Fort  Pitt  was  the  place  from  which  he  was  to  embark  on  his 
dangerous  mission,  but  he  was  detained  here  a  month  to  receive 
the  last  installment  of  captives  from  the  Shawaneese,  which  had 
been  promised  to  Bouquet  the  year  before,  and  who  could  not  be 
delivered  to  him  at  that  time  on  account  of  their  absence  on  a 
hunt.  Meantime,  inauspicious  news  came  to  hand  frotn  the  in- 
terior, which  admonished  Croghan  that  the  sooner  he  arrived 
among  the  conquered  but  vacillating  subjects  of  the  King  in  the 
Illinois  country,  the  less  difiicult  would  be  the  task  of  reconcili- 
ation. In  his  command  was  a  celebrated  frontierer  named  Era- 
ser— the  same  who  had  pushed  across  the  mountains  in  1753,  and 
established  a  trading  station  on  the  Alleghany  river.     He  vol- 


-'■"^  Ij& 


; 


Croghau  Attacked  and  taken  Prisoner.  145 

tinteered  to  start  in  advance  of  Croo^han,  as  an  emissary  of  Enn^lish 
power  at  the  place  in  question,  and  with  a  hardiliood  seldom 
equaled,  pushed  his  canoe,  with  a  few  attenda*^  ts,  down  the  Ohio 
liver  to  Ft.  Massac;  tlience  he  made  his  way  across  the  country 
to  the  French  villages  of  the  Illinois  country.  He  was  well  re- 
ceived at  first,  but  he  had  not  remained  long  till  the  French 
traders  conspired  to  take  his  life  by  means  of  exciting  the  In- 
dians against  him,  and  would  certainly  have  accomplished  their 
purpose,  but  for  the  interposition  of  Pontiac,  who  was  there,  and 
W'hose  potent  influence  was  barely  sufficient  to  save  liim  from 
being  tomahawked. 

Early  in  May,  true  to  their  agreement,  the  faithful  Shaw- 
aneese  brought  in  the  promised  captives,  and  delivered  them  to 
Croghan  at  Ft.  Pitt;  and  all  things  now  being  ready,  he  em- 
barked on  the  15th.  1765,  with  a  few  white  com.panions  and  a 
"  number  of  friendly  Indians,"  says  his  journal. 

On  the  19th,  while  on  his  way  down  the  river,  he  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  the  Shawaneese  vi liases  to  order  them  to  brins:  tlie 
French  traders  who  were  among  them  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Scioto  river,  as  they  could  no  longer  be  suflered  to  trade  there 
without  a  permit  from  "  His  Excellency,"  Gen.  Gage.  On  his 
arrival  at  the  place,  which  was  on  the  26th, -the  Indians  were 
promptly  on  the  spot  with  the  traders,  seven  in  number,  for  the 
lesson  Bouquet  had  taught  them  the  year  before  was  too  in)pre8- 
sive  to  be  soon  forgotten,  and  they  dare  not  disobey.  After  de- 
livering die  Frenchmen  into  the  custody  of  Croghan,  they  de- 
clared that  1101  hing  should  be  left  undone  on  their  part  to  con- 
vince the  English  of  their  sincerity  in  the  interests  of  peace. 
Having  satisfactorily  arranged  his  official  business  with  the  sub- 
missive Shawaneese,  he  proceeded  on  his  way  and  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Wabash  river  on  the  6th  of  June,  where  he  made 
a  halt  for  some  prudential  ])urpose. 

No  English  delegation  had  ever  before  penetrated  so  far  down 
the  river,  excej)t  Eraser's  ]>arty,  and  he  soon  found  that  the  In- 
dians in  these  deep  recesses  of  the  forest,  had  not  yet  been  tem- 
pered into  that  submissive  frame  of  mind  that  had  but  recently 
manifested  itself  among  the  Shawaneese.  Here  he  remained 
encamped  till  the  Sth,  when  he  was  attacked  at  daybreak  in  tho 
morning,  by  eighty  Kicka{K)o  and  Muscjuatamie  warriors. 

Five  of  his  men  were  killed,  three  of  whom  were  his  Shawa- 
neese allies,  and  he  liimself  was  slightly  wounded.  He  had  with 
him  an  amount  of  gold  scud  silver,  which,  with  hi?  gctods,  was 
taken  by  his  captors.  The  Indians  were  released,  but  Croghan 
with  his  men  were  taken  to  VincxMuies.  Thev  arrived  there  on 
the  15th.  where  was  a  French  village  of  eigjity  houses,  and  an 
Indian  village  of  the  Pyankeshas  close  by.    Here,  for  half  a  ccn- 


H6  Croghan  Released. 

tury,  the  two  races  had  been  living  in  loving  relations  with  each 
other  in  this  wilderness,  recluse  under  the  dense  shades  of  the 
beech,  sugar,  oak  and  elm,  forest  trees  that  attain  unusnal  heights 
in  the  rich  bottoms  of  the  Wabash,  shutting  out  the  rays  of  the 
sun  from  the  black  alluvial  soil.  Here  he  found  old  acquaint- 
ances among  the  Indians,  who,  aware  of  his  official  position, 
Beverely  reprimanded  his  captors,-  though  his  journal  does  not 
inform  us  that  either  the  goods  or  money  of  which  he  had  been 
robbed  were  restored;  but  thou*;!!  a  captive,  he  was  treated  with 
respect.  Wishing  to  write  to  St.  Any  ,  who  held  command  of 
the  Illinois  towns,  he  applied  to  the  French  inhabitants  of  the 
place  for  paper,  which  the}-  gave  him,  but  not  till  the  consent  of 
the  Indians  had  been  ol)tained.  After  writing  the  letter  and 
dispatching  it  by  an  Indian  messenger,  his  Indian  friends,  in 
•whose  custody  he  now  was,  conducted  liim  up  the  Wabash  river 
to  Onatanon.  arriving  there  on  the  23d.  Here  he  found  more 
Indian  acniiaintances,  who  were  very  civil  with  the  distinguished 
captive.  But  on  the  tirst  of  July  a  Frenchman  arrived  from  the 
Illinois  villages  witli  a  belt  and  speech  from  an  unrelenting 
Shawaneese  savage,  who,  instead  of  submitting  to  the  peace  his 
tribe  had  made  with  Bouquet,  had  fled  to  tiiis  distant  post  in  the 
vain  hope  that  he  was  out  of  the  roach  of  the  English.  The 
substance  of  the  speech  was  that  the  ])rir^oner  should  be  burnt. 
But  instead  of  listening  to  such  counsels  they  immediately  set 
him  at  liberty,  with  assurances  that  tl>ey  despised  the  message. 
Tiie  liberated  captive  now  held  counsels  with  the  various  Indian 
tribes  of  the  countrv,  including  those  who  had  ca^jtured  him, 
and  obtained  their  consent  for  the  English  to  take  possession  of 
any  posts  in  the  country  held  by  the  I'rench.  On  the  18th  he 
get  out  for  the  Illinois  villages,  but  on  the  way  met  an  important 
delegation  of  Six  Nation  and  Shawaneese  chiefs,  among  whom 
was  the  distinguished  Pontiac.  The  whole  party  now  returned 
to  Cuatanon,  and  Croghan  succeeded  in  explaining  everything  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  all  the  chiefs,  Pontiac  himself  not  dis- 
senting from  the  all-prevailing  sentiment  In  lavor  of  submission 
to  the  English. 

It  appears  from  various  items  in  his  journal  tiiat  some  of  the 
inconsolable  Frencli  of  the  country  had  told  the  Indians  that 
the  English  intended  to  take  their  country  from  them  and  give 
it  to  the  Cherokees,  but  Croghan  happily  succeeded  in  dispelling 
this  mistaken  apjirehension;  and  notwithstanding  the  unpropi- 
tious  beginning  of  his  mission,  it  proved  a  decided  success,  and 
owing  to  his  able  method  of  influencing  the  savage  mind,  lie 
managed  to  turn  his  defeat  to  a  good  account,  as  the  result  of 
that  natural  recoil  which  is  shown  alike  in  the  savage  and  the 
cultured  mind,  when  inconsiderate  and  liasty  action  has  gone  be- 


Croghan'8  Journal.  1^7 


yond  the  niediutn  line  of  a  jnst  or  a  practicable  policy.     1 
now  wrote  to  Gen.  Gajye,  Sir  William  Johnson,  and  Major  Mi 


Ho 

[ur- 
ray,  who  then  held  c<)nimand  of  Fort  Pitt,  informinsf  them  of 
the  pacitic  temper  of  the  Indian  mind,  and  on  the  25th  set  out 
for  Detroit,  arriving  there  on  the  17th  of  August.  Here  he  met 
two  Frenchmen  named  Deqnanu  and  Waobicomica,  with  a  depu- 
tation of  Indians  from  Sir  William  Johnson,  as  the  hearers  of 
messages  to  Pontiac  and  the  western  tribes.  Col.  Campbell,  who 
now  held  command  of  Detroit,  convened  a  council  of  various 
tribes,  whose  representatives  were  already  on  the  spot  in  obedi- 
ence to  council  belts  which  had  been  sent  to  each  tribe  in  the 
country  by  Bradstreet  the  year  before,  while  on  his  mission  to 
relieve  the  place  from  siege. 

Complete  submission  to  the  English  was  the  universal  policy 
now.  The  Miami  Pyankeshas  and  Kickapoos  begged  t<>  be 
forgiven  for  the  inconsiderate  action  of  their  young  men,  and 
hoped  their  English  Fathers  would  have  pity  on  their  necessities 
and  give  them  a  little  clothing  and  a  little  rum  to  drink  on  the 
road,  as  they  had  con:e  a  great  way.  The  "VVyandots  asked  for 
no  rum  or  any  other  favors,  but  with  a  commendable  spirit  of 
etatestnanship,  exhorted  the  western  tribes  to  behave  well 
towards  their  "English  Fathers,  who  had  taken  them  under  their 
protection,"  and  by  so  doing,  become  "  a  happy  people;  "  that 
"all  nations  towards  the  rising  sun  had  taken  tlieui  by  the  hand, 
and  would  never  let  slip  the  chain  of  friendship  so  happily 
renewed." 

The  tbllowing  items  in  the  journal  of  Croghan  are  inserted 
verbatim^  as  no  other  words  could  be  chosen  of  equal  historic 
value,  to  show  the  situation  at  that  time: 

"24th.  AV^e  had  another  meeting  with  the  several  nations, 
when  the  Waweotonans;  Tawightwis,  Pyankeshas,  Kickapoos, 
and  Musquatamies,  made  several  speeches  to  Colonel  Camj^bell 
and  me,  in  presence  of  all  the  other  nations,  when  they  acknowl- 
edged themselves  to  be  the  children  of  the  king  of  (ireat 
Britain;  and  further  acknowledged  that  they  had,  at  Weotonan, 


former  fathers,  to   the  English,  now  their  present  fathers;  all 
which  they  coniinned  witli  a  belt. 

"  2ijtli.  AVe  had  another  meeting  with  the  same  Indians, 
when  Colonel  Canij)bell  and  I  made  them  several  speeches  in 
answer  to  theirs  of  the  23d  and  24th.  Then  delivered  them  a 
road  belt,  in  the  name  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  1  aronet,  to  open 
a  road  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun;  which  we 
charged  them  to  keep  open  through  their  country,  and  cautioned 


148  Pontiac  for  Peace. 

them  to  stop  their  ears  against  the  stories  or  idle  reports  of  evil 
minded  people,  and  continue  to  promote  tlie  good  works  of 
peace;  all  which  they  promised  to  do  in  a  most  sincere  manner. 

"  2f)th.  Colonel  (;am])bell  and  I  made  those  nations  some 
preschts,  when,  after  taking  leave  of  us,  they  set  oft'  for  their 
own  country,  well  satistied. 

"27th.  AVe  had  a  meetinij  with  Pondiac  and  all  the  Ottawa 
tribes,  Chippewas  and  Pottewaemies,  with  the  llurons  of  this 
place,  and  the  chiefs  of  those  settled  at  Sandusky  and  the  Miami 
river,  when  we  made  them  the  following  speeches — " 

The  speeches  are  brief,  an('  relate  chiefly  to  their  keepinij^  the 
peace  in  sincerity  and  good  faith.  On  the  following  day,  or  the 
28th  August,  they  had  another  meeting  with  the  Indians, 
when  Pondiac  made  the  following  speech,  which  is  worth  pre- 
serving, as  coming  from  so  celebrated  a  man: 

"  Father — We  liave  all  smoked  out  of  this  pipe  of  peace.  It 
is  your  children's  pipe,  and  as  the  war  is  all  over,  and  the  Great 
Spirit  and  Giver  of  Light,  who  has  made  the  earth,  and  every 
thing  therein,  has  brought  us  all  together  this  day  for  our  mutual 
good,  to  promote  the  good  works  of  peace,  I  declare  to  all  na- 
tions that  I  have  settled  my  peace  with  you  before  I  came  here, 
and  now  deliver  my  pipe  to  be  sent  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  that 
he  may  know  1  have  made  peace,  and  taken  the  king  of  England 
for  my  father,  in  presence  of  all  the  nations  now  assembled,  and 
whenever  any  of  those  nations  go  to  visit  him,  they  may  smoke 
out  of  it  with  him  in  peace.  Fathers,  we  are  obliged  to  you  for 
lighting  up  our  old  council  fire  for  us,  and  desiring  us  to  return 
to  it;  but  we  are  now  settled  on  tlie  Miami  river,  not  far  from 
hence;  whenever  you  want  us,  you  will  find  us  there  ready  to 
wait  on  you.  The  reaso  i  why  I  choose  to  stay  where  we  are  now 
settled  is,  that  we  love  liquor,  and  to  be  so  near  this  as  we  for- 
merly lived,  our  people  would  be  always  drunk,  which  might  oc- 
casion some  quarrels  between  the  soldiers  and  our  people.  This, 
father,  is  all  the  reason  I  have  for  our  not  returning  to  our  old 
settlements;  and  where  we  live  is  so  nigh  this  ])lace,  that  when 
v»-e  want  to  drink,  we  can  easily  come  for  it.  [(iave  a  large  pipe 
with  a  belt  of  wampum  tied  to  it.] 

"Father — Be  strong  and  take  ]nty  on  us,  your  child'-en,  as  our 
former  father  did.  It  is  just  the  hunting  season  of  your  chil- 
dren. Onr  fathers,  the  French,  former!}'  used  to  credit  his  chil- 
dren, for  powder  and  lead  to  hunt  with.  I  request,  in  behalf  of 
all  the  nations  present,  that  you  will  speak  to  the  traders  now 
here,  to  do  the  same.  My  father,  once  more,  I  request  that  you 
Tell  your  traders,  to  give  your  children  credit  for  a  little  powder 
and  lead,  as  the  support  of  our  families  depends  upon  it.  We 
have  told  you  where  we  live,  not  far  from  here,  that  whenever 


Indian  Proposals  to  Open  Trade.  149 

you   want  us,  and  let  us  know,  we  will  come  directly  to  you. 
[A  belt.] 

"  Father — Yon  have  stopped  up  the  rum  barrel,  when  we  came 
here,  until  the  business  of  this  meetini,'  was  over.  As  it  is  now 
finished,  we  request  you  may  open  the  barrel,  that  your  children 
may  drink  and  be  merry." 

There  were  present  at  this  treaty  about  thirty  chiefs  and  five 
hundred  warriors.  A  list  of  the  tribes  is  given,  and  the  names 
■of  the  chiefs.  Tiiis  was  the  last  ]mblic  transaction,  in  which 
Pondiac  was  eni^aged  with  the  English.* 

"  29th.  A  dej)iitation  of  several  nations  set  out  from  Detroit 
for  the  Illinois  country,  with  several  messages  from  me  to  the 
Wyandots,  Six  Nation's,  Delawares,  Shawanees,  and  other  na- 
tions, in  answer  to  theirs,  delivered  to  me  at  AVeotonan. 

"  80th.  The  chiefs  of  the  several  nations  who  are  settled  on 
<)ual)acSe,  returned  to  the  Detroit,  from  the  river  Koche,  where 
they  had  been  encamped,  and  informed  Colonel  Campbell  and 
me  they  were  now  going  for  their  own  country;  and  that  nothing 
gave  them  greater  pleasure  than  to  see,  that  all  the  western  na- 
tions and  tribes  had  agreed  to  a  general  peace,  and  that  they 
»^hould  be  glad  how  soon  their  fathers,  the  English,  would  take 
possession  of  the  ])osts  in  their  country,  which  had  formerly  been 
in  possession  of  their  late  fathers,  the  French,  to  open  a  trade 
lor  them;  and  if  this  could  not  be  done  this  fall,  they  desired 
tliat  some  traders  might  be  st-nt  to  their  villages,  to  supply  them 
for  the  winter,  or  else  they  wcjiild  be  obliged  to  go  the  Illinois, 
to  apply  to  their  old  fathers,  the  French,  for  such  necessaries  as 
they  might  want. 

"  They  then  spoke  on  a  belt,  and  said:  Fathers,  evervthing  is 
now  settled,  and  we  have  agreed  to  your  taking  })osssession  in 
our  country.  We  have  been  informed  that  the  English,  wherever 
they  settle,  make  the  country  their  own;  and  you  tell  us  that 
when  you  conquered  the  French,  they  <;ave  you  this  country. 
That  no  difference  may  hap]>en  hereafter,  we  tell  you  the  French 
never  purchased  a  foot  of  our  country,  nor  have  they  a  right  to 
iiive  it  to  you.  AV^e  gave  them  liberty  to  settle,  and  they 
were  always  very  civil  to  us,  when  they  had  it  in  their  power; 
but  as  they  now  are  become  your  peojtle,  if  you  expect  to  keep 
those  posts  as  your  own  property,  we  will  expect  to  have  equiva- 
lent made  us,  for  such  parts  of  our  country  as  you  may  want  to 
possess.     [A  belt.] 

"  September  2nd.  The  chiefs  of  the  AVyandots,  or  Hurons, 
<'.ame  to  me  and  said  they  had  spoke  last  summer,  to  SirAVilliam 

•An  historical  eiror  of  Hildroth.  tlio  ediUirof  Crof^han's  Journal.  Pontiac  at- 
tttndetl  a  convention  ;it  ( tswcfio,  tho  next  year,  called  by  Sir  William  Johnson. 
— [Arncorv 


150    The  Ottawas  and  Chi/ppewas  from  Chicago  Apologize. 

Johnson,  at  Niao;ara,  about  the  lands  on  which  the  French  had 
settled  near  Detroit,  belonging  to  them,  and  desired  I  would 
mention  it  again  to  him;  that  thev  never  had  sold  it  to  the 
French,  and  expected  their  new  fathers,  the  English,  would  do 
them  justice,  as  the  French  was  become  one  people  with  us.  [A 
belt] 

"4th.  Pondiac,  with  several  chiefs  of  the  Plurons,  Chippe- 
was  and  Pottewatemies,  likewise  complained  that  the  French  had 
settled  part  of  their  country,  which  they  never  had  sold  to  them, 
and  hoped  their  fathers,  the  English,  would  take  it  into  consid- 
eration, and  see  that  a  proper  satisfaction  was  made  to  them; 
that  their  country  was  very  large,  and  they  were  willing  to  give 
up  any  part  of  it  that  was  necessary  for  their  fathers,  the  Eng- 
lish, to  carry  on  trade — provided  they  were  paid  for  it,  and  a. 
sufficient  part  of  the  country  left  for  them  to  hunt  on.    [A  belt.] 

"  6th.  The  Saginaw  Indians  came  here  and  made  a  speech  on 
a  belt  of  wampum,  expressing  their  satisfaction  on  hearing  that 
a  general  peace  was  made  with  all  the  western  nations  and  with 
Pondiac.  They  desired  a  little  powder  and  lead,  to  enable  them 
to  hui't  on  their  way  home,  and  a  little  rum,  to  drink  their  new 
father  Uiealth."     [A  belt.] 

IS^.  B.  The  transactions  of  the  9th  and  11th  are  written  with 
such  poor  ink,  and  so  faded,  that  they  cannot  be  deciphered. 

"  12th.  Tlie  grand  sauton,  and  a  party  of  Ottawas  and  Chip- 
pewas,  from  Chicago,  sent  me  word  they  would  come  in  the 
morning  and  see  me. 

"  13th.  The  grand  sauton  came,  with  his  band,  and  spoke  a* 
follows: 

"  Father — You  sent  me  a  belt  from  the  Miami,  and  as  soon  a.^. 
I  received  it  I  set  off  to  meet  you  here.  On  my  way,  I  hea  i 
what  has  passed  between  you  and  the  several  tribes  that  met  yo;: 
here.  You  have  had  pity  on  them;  and  I  beg,  in  behalf  jf  my- 
self and  the  people  of  Chicago,  that  you  will  have  ]uty  on  ua 
also.  It  is  true  we,  liave  been  foolish,  and  listened  to  evil  re- 
ports and  the  whistling  of  bad  birds.  We  hmI  jH'opie  are  a  very 
jealous  people;  and,  father,  among  you  whitt*  )>e«iple  there  are 
bad  people  also,  that  tell  tis  lies  and  de<*<'ive  us,  whicii  has  been 
the  occasion  of  what  is  past.  I  neeil  not  say  much  on  this  head. 
I  am  now  convince<l  I  have  In'en  wn»ng  led  for  S4»me  years  past. 
But  there  are  ]>eople  that  have  U'havttl  worst*  than  I  and  my 
people,  and  you  have  pardontii  then  .  I  hoj>e  yon  to  do  the 
same  to  us,  that  our  women  and  cli  .ireii  may  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings of  peace,  as  the  rest  of  our  brethren,  tlie  red  people;  and 
you  shall  be  convince*!,  by  our  future  conduct,  that  we  will  he- 
bave  as  well  as  any  tribe  of  your  children  in  this  country.  [A 
belt] 


The  Chicago  Delegation  Make  Revelations.  151 

"He  then  said, the  St.  Joseph  Indians  would  have  come  along 
with  me,  hut  the  English  prisoner,  which  their  fathers  \vant  from 
them,  was  some  distance  off  a-huntin*^.  As  soon  as  they  could 
get  him,  they  would  deliver  him  up,  and  beg  forgiveness  of  their 
fathers,  as  they  did  at  present. 

"  14th.  I  had  a  private  meeting  with  the  grand  sauton,  when 
he  told  me  he  was  well  disposed  for  peace  last  fall,  but  was  then 
Bent  for  to  the  Illinois,  wliere  he  met  with  Pondiae;  and  that 
then  their  fathers,  the  French,  told  them,  if  they  would  be 
strong,  and  keej)  the  English  out  of  the  possession  of  that  coun- 
try by  this  summer,  that  the  king  of  France  would  send  over 
an  army  next  spring  to  assist  his  children,  the  Indians;  and  that 
the  king  of  Spain  would  likewise  send  troops,  to  help  them  to 
keep  the  English  out  of  the  country;  that  the  English  were  a 
bad  people,  and  had  a  design  to  cut  off  all  the  Indian  nations  in 
this  country,  and  to  bring  the  southern  Indians  to  live  and  settle 
there.  This  account  made  all  the  Indians  very  uneasy  in  their 
minds;  and,  after  holding  a  council  among  themselves,  they  all 
determined  to  oppose  the  English,  and  not  suffer  them  to  take 
possession  of  the  Illinois;  that,  for  his  part,  he  behaved  as  ill  as 
the  rest  to  the  British  otiicers  that  went  there  this  spring;  but 
since,  he  has  been  better  informed  of  the  goodness  of  tiie  Eng- 
lish, and  convinced  the  French  told  tliem  lies  for  tiie  love  of 
their  beavers.  He  was  nov/  determined,  with  ali  his  people,  to 
become  faithful  and  dutiful  children  to  their  new  fathers,  the 
English,  and  pay  no  regard  to  any  stories  the  French  should  tell 
him  in  future. 

"  loth.  Colonel  Campell  and  I  had  a  meeting  with  the  grand 
sauton,  at  which  we  informed  him  of  everything  that  has  passed 
with  the  several  nations  and  tribes;  and  told  him  we  accepted 
him  and  his  people  in  friendship,  and  would  forgive  them  as  we 
had  the  rest  of  the  tribes,  and  forget  what  was  past,  provided 
their  future  conduct  should  convince  us  of  their  sincerity.  After 
which  we  gave  them  some  presents  for  which  he  returned  thanks, 
and  departed  very  well  satisfied. 

"  19tii.  I  received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Reed,  by  express,  ac- 
quainting me  of  Captain  Sterling  setting  out  froiii  Fort  Pitt, 
with  a  hundred  men  of  the  forty-second  regiment,  to  take  pos- 
session of  Fort  Chartres,  in  the  Illinois  country. 

"  20th.  I  sent  off  Aaron  Andrew,  express  to  Captain  Sterling 
at  the  Illinois,  and  with  messages  to  the  several  nations  in  that 
country,  and  those  on  the  Ouabache,  to  acquaint  them  of  Cap- 
tain Sterling's  departure  from  Fort  Pitt  for  the  Illinois  country. 

"  25th.  The  chiefs  of  the  St.  Joseph  Indians  arrived,  and  ad- 
dressed themselves  to  Colonel  Campbell  and  me,  as  follows: 


152  The  St.  Joseph  Delegation  Apologize. 

"  Fatliers — We  are  come  here  to  see  yon,  althougli  we  are  not 
acquainted  with  you.  We  had  a  father,  formerly,  with  whom  we 
were  very  well  acquainted,  and  never  differed  with  him.  You 
have  conquered  him  some  time  aw;  and  when  you  came  here 
first,  though  your  hands  were  all  bloody,  you  took  hold  of  us  by 
the  hands,  and  used  us  well,  and  we  thought  we  should  be  happy 
with  our  brethren.  But  soon  an  unlucky  difference  happened, 
which  threw  us  all  into  confusion.  Wliere  this  arose  we  do  not 
know,  but  we  assure  you  we  were  the  last  that  entered  into 
the  quarrel.  The  Indians  of  this  place  solicited  us  often  to  join 
them,  but  we  would  not  listen  to  them.  At  last  they  got  the 
better  of  our  foolish  young  warriors,  but  we  never  agreed  to  it; 
we  knew  it  would  answer  no  end,  and  told  them  often,  they  were 
fools,  and  if  they  succeeded  in  killing  the  few  Engii'=^h  in  this 
country,  they  would  not  kill  them  all,  because  we  knew  you  to 
be  a  great  people. 

Fathers — You  have,  after  all  that  has  happened,  received  all 
the  several  tribes  in  this  country  for  your  children.  We  from 
St.  Joseph  seem  to  be  the  last  of  your  children  that  came  to  you 
to  beg  mercy.  We  are  no  more  than  wild  creatures  to  you, 
fathers,  in  understanding;  therefore  we  request  you  to  forgive 
the  past  follies  of  our  young  people,  and  receive  us  for  your 
children.  Since  you  have  thrown  down  our  former  father  on  his 
back,  we  have  been  wandering  in  the  dark,  like  blind  people. 
Now  you  have  dispersed  all  this  darkness,  which  hung  over  the 
heads  of  the  several  tribes,  and  have  accepted  them  for  your 
children;  we  hope  you  will  let  us  partake  with  them  the  light, 
that  our  women  and  children  may  enjoy  peace.  We  beg  you  to 
forget  all  that  is  past.  By  this  belt  we  remove  all  evil  thoughts 
from  your  hearts.     [A  belt.] 

"Tliey  added  further:  Fathers — When  we  formerly  came  to 
visit  our  fathers,  the  French,  they  always  sent  us  home  joyful, 
and  we  hope  you,  fathers,  will  have  pity  on  our  women  and 
young  men  who  ai-e  in  great  want  of  necessaries,  and  not  let  us 
go  home  to  our  towns  ashamed. 

"  Colonels  Campbell  and  Croghan  made  them  a  favorable  an- 
swer, and  added  presents  of  powder,  lead,  vermillion,  clothing, 
and  two  kegs  of  rum,  ending  the  interview  with  these  remarks: 

"Children — I  take  this  opportunity  to  tell  you  that  your  fath- 
ers, the  English,  are  gone  down  the  Ohio  from  Fort  Pitt,  to  take 
possession  of  the  Illinois,  and  desire  you  may  acquaint  all  your 
people  of  it  on  your  return  home;  and  likewise  desire  you  to 
stop  your  ears  against  the  whistling  of  bad  birds  (meaning  the 
French),  and  mind  nothing  but  your  hunting  to  support  your 
fMuiilies,  that  your  women  and  cliildreu  may  enjoy  the  blessings 
V :'  peace. 


Croghaii's  Beports  to  Sir  Wm.  Johnson.  153 

"  26th.  I  left  Detroit  and  arrived,  October  3d,  at  Niagara, 
Here  I  met  some  Senecas  with  whom  I  had  a  meeting,  and  in- 
formed them  of  mj  transactions  with  the  several  nations,  and 
desired  them  to  inform  tlieir  people  of  it  on  their  return  home, 
which  they  promised  me  they  would. 

"October  11th.  Set  off  from  Niagara,  and  arrived  the  17th 
at  Ontario,  wiiere  I  met  the  Bunt  and  several  sacliems  of  the 
Onondagas,  with  wliom  I  had  a  meeting,  and  informed  them  what 
had  passed  between  me  and  the  western  nations. 

"  19th.  I  set  off  from  Ontario,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Stanwix 
the  21st." 

Col.  Croghan's  Keport  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  Supt.  of  In- 
dian Affairs: 

"  Sir — Having  now  returned  from  the  services  I  was  sent  upon 
by  his  Excellency  General  Gage,  namely,  the  obtaining  the  In- 
dians' consent  to  our  possessing  the  important  posts  at  tlie  Illi- 
nois, I  present  your  honor  with  a  journal  of  my  transactions 
with  the  several  nations  and  tribes  in  that  country,  for  your  pe- 
rusal. 

"  In  the  situation  I  was  placed  at  "Weotonan*  with  great  num- 
bers of  Indians  about  me,  and  no  necessaries,  such  as  paper  and 
ink,  I  had  it  irot  in  my  power  to  take  down  all  the  speeches 
made  by  the  Indian  nations,  nor  what  I  said  t^  them,  in  so  par- 
ticular a  manner  as  I  could  wish;  but  hope  the  heads  of  them, 
as  I  have  taken  them  down,  will  meet  your  approbation. 

"  In  the  course  of  this  tour  through  the  Indian  country,  I 
made  it  my  study  to  converse  in  private  with  Pondiac  and  sev- 
(iral  of  the  chiefs  of  the  several  nations,  as  often  as  opportunity 
served,  in  order  to  find  out  their  sentiments  of  the  French  and 
English.  Pondiac  is  a  shrewd,  sensible  Indian,  of  few  words, 
and  commands  more  respect  among  his  own  nation  than  any  In- 
dian I  ever  saw  could  do  among  his  own  tribe.  He  and  all 
the  principal  men  of  those  nations  seem  at  present  to  be  con- 
vinced that  the  French  had  a  view  of  interest  in  stirring  up  the 
late  difference  between  his  majesty's  subjects  and  them,  and  call 
it  a  beaver  war;  for  neither  Pondiac,  nor  any  of  the  Indians  I 
met  with,  ever  pretended  to  deny  that  the  French  were  at  the 
bottom  of  the  whole,  and  constantly  supplied  them  with  every 
necessary  they  w-anted  as  far  as  in  their  power.  And  notwith- 
standing they  are  at  present  convinced  that  it  was  for  their  own 
interest,  yet  it  has  not  changed  the  Indians'  affection  for  them. 
They  have  been  bred  up  together  like  children  in  that  country, 

*This  name  should  be  spelled  Ouatanon.  It  is  pronounced  We-au-ta-non, 
which  doubtless  was  the  cause  ot  Croghan's  incorrect  way  of  spelling  it;  he 
probably  never  having  seen  it  written. — Author. 


154  Croghan'a  Report  ContinuciA,. 

and  the  French  have  always  adopted  the  Indian  customs  and 
manners,  treated  them  civilly,  and  supplied  their  necessities  fijeu- 
erally,  by  which  means  they  gained  tlie  hearts  of  the  Indians^ 
and  commanded  their  services,  and  enjoyed  tlie  benefits  of  a 
very  advantageous  fur  trade.  They  well  know  if  they  had  not 
taken  these  measures  they  could  not  enjoy  these  advantages. 

"  The  French  have  in  a  manner  taught  the  Indians  in  that 
country  to  hate  the  English,  by  representing  them  in  the  worst 
light  they  could,  on  all  occasions;  in  particular  they  have  made 
the  Indians  there  believe,  lately,  that  the  English  would  take 
tlieir  country  from  them,  and  bring  the  Cherokees  there  to  settle 
and  enslave  them;  which  report  they  easily  gave  credit  to,  as  the 
southern  Indians  had  lately  commenced  a  war  against  them.  I 
had  great  difficulty  in  removing  this  suspicion,  and  convincing 
them  of  the  falsity  of  the  report,  which  I  flatter  myself  I  have 
done  in  a  great  measure. 

"  It  will  require  some  time,  and  a  very  even  conduct  in  those 
that  are  to  reside  in  their  coimtry,  before  we  can  expect  to  rival 
the  French  in  their  affections.  All  Indians  are  jealous,  and  from 
their  high  notions  of  liberty,  hate  power.  I'hose  nations  are 
jealous  and  prejudiced  against  us,  so  that  the  greatest  care  will 
be  necessary  to  convince  them  of  our  honest  intentions  by  our 
actions. 

"  The  French  sold  them  goods  much  dearer  than  the  English 
traders  do  at  present.  In  that  point  we  have  the  advantage 
over  the  French,  but  they  made  that  up  in  large  presents  to 
them,  for  their  services,  whicli  they  wanted  to  support  their  in- 
terest in  the  country;  and  although  we  want  none  of  their  ser- 
vices, yet  they  will  expect  favors,  and  if  refused,  take  it  in 
a  bad  light,  and  very  likely  think  it  done  to  distress  them,  for 
some  particular  advantage  we  want  to  gain  over  them.  They 
are  by  no  means  so  sensible  a  ■people  an  the  Six  Nations,  or 
other  tribes  this  way;  and  the  French,  for  their  own  advantage, 
have  learned  them  a  bad  custom;  for,  by  all  I  could  learn,  they 
seldom  made  them  any  general  present,  but  as  it  were,  fed  them 
with  necessaries  just  as  they  wanted,  tribe  by  tribe,  and  never 
sent  them  away  empty,  which  will  make  it  difficult  and  trouble- 
some to  the  gentlemen  that  are  to  command  in  their  country,  for 
some  time,  to  please  them  and  preserve  peace,  as  they  are  a  rash, 
inconsiderate  people,  and  do  not  look  on  themselves  as  under  any 
obligation  to  us,  but  rather  think  we  are  obliged  to  them  for 
letting  us  reside  in  their  country. 

"As  far  as  lean  judge  of  their  sentiments,  by  the  several 
conversations  I  have  had  with  them,  they  will  expect  some  sat- 
isfaction made  them  by  us,  for  any  posts  that  may  be  established 
in  their  country  for  trade.     But  you  will  be  informed  better  by 


Tthe  Illinois  Gountnj   Under  the  English.  155 

themselves  next  spring,  as  Pondiac  and  some  chiefs  of  every 
nation  in  that  country,  intend  to  pny  you  a  visit. 

"  The  sevenil  nations  on  the  Ouabache  and  towards  the  Illi- 
nois, St.  Josephs,  Chicago,  La  Baye,  Saginaw,  and  other  places, 
have  ajiplied  for  traders  to  be  sent  to  their  settlements.  As  it 
was  not  in  the  power  of  any  officer  to  permit  traders  to  ^o  from 
Detroit,  or  Michillimackinac,  either  English  or  French,  I  am  of 
the  opinion  the  Indians  will  be  supplied  chietly  this  year  from 
the  Illinois,  which  is  all  French  property;  and  if  trading  posts 
are  not  established  at  proper  places  in  that  country  soon,  the 
French  must  carry  the  best  part  of  the  trade  over  the  Missis- 
sippi. This  they  are  determined  to  do,  if  they  can;  for  I  have 
been  informed  that  they  are  preparing  to  build  a  strong  trading 
fort  on  the  other  side  of  the  Mississippi,  about  sixty  miles  above 
Fort  Clartres,  and  have  this  summer,  in  a  private  manner,  trans- 
ported twenty-six  pieces  of  small  cannon  up  the  river  for  that 
purpose. 

"1  am  with  great  esteem  and  regard,  your  honor's  most  obe- 
dient and  most  humble  servant, 

"GEO.  CROGIIAK 
"  To  the  Honorable  Sir  William  Johnson,  General,  his  Majesty's 

soki  agent  for  Indian  aftairs." 

'?>;  -  ,j|;p>.  ijas  no  date,  but  was  probably  written  soon  after 
Co  ..ghan's  arrival  at  Fort  Stanwix,  which  was  October 

2a' ct  asj  it  is  attached  to  his  journal  of  transactions. 

in  ice  \vith  the  original  plan,  as  soon  as  the  success  of 

Crogh.  fcsion  became   knovMi,    the   military  commission 

which  Was  to  follow  it,  embarked  from  Ft.  Pitt  in  the  autumn 
of  the  ?^nio  year — 1765.  It  consisted  of  about  120  men  from 
the  42d  Regiment  of  Iliglilanders,  under  Capt.  Sterling.  They 
arrived  at  Ft.  Chartres,  by  the  way  of  the  Ohio  and  the  Missis- 
sippi rivers,  late  in  the  autumn,  and  for  the  first  time,  the  Lilies 
of  France  fell  from  the  flairstaff,  and  the  Cross  of  Saint  Georjre 
rose  in  its  place  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  This  was  the 
last  official  act  in  the  great  drama  which  had  despoiled  France 
of  her  transcendent   aspirations  on  the  American  continent. 

Note. — Col.  Crojrhan's  journal  has  besn  published  in  the  last  edition  of 
Butler's  History  of  Kentucky,  but  is  not  as  correctly  rendered  as  in  Hiidredth's 
Pioneer  History,  from  which  the  foregoingr  is  taken.  He  took  it  from  the  orig- 
inal raanuscript  preserved  among  Col.  Morgan's  papers,  who  was  subsequenUy 
appointed  Indian  Agent. 


156  Gen.  Gage^s  Proclamation. 

The  following  proclamation  from  Gen.  Gage  was  issued  by 
Capt.  Sterling,  on  his  arrival: 

"  Whereas,  by  the  peace  concluded  at  Paris,  on  the  10th  of 
February,  1763,  the  country  of  the  Illinois  has  been  ceded  to 
his  Brittanic  majesty,  and  the  taking  possession  of  the  said 
country  of  the  Illinois  by  the  troops  of  his  majesty,  though  de- 
layed, has  been  determined  fipon,  we  have  found  it  good  to 
make  known  to  the  inhabitants — 

"  That  his  majesty  grants  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Illinois 
the  libert}"-  of  the  Catholic  religion,  as  it  has  already  been 
granted  to  his  subjects  in  Canada;  he  has  consequently  given 
the  most  precise  and  eft'ective  orders,  to  the  end  that  his  new 
Roman  Catholic  subjects  of  the  Illinois  may  exercise  the  worship 
of  their  religion,  according  to  the  rites  of  the  lioman  church, 
in  the  same  manner  as  in  Canada; 

"  That  his  majesty,  moreover,  agrees  that  the  French  inhabi- 
tants, or  others,  who  have  been  subjects  of  the  most  christian 
king,  may  retire,  in  full  safety  and  freedom,  wherever  they 
please,  even  to  jS^ew  Orleans,  or  any  other  part  of  Louisiana, 
although  it  should  happen  that  the  Spaniards  take  possession  of 
it  in  the  name  of  his  Catholic  majesty;  and  tliey  may  sell  their 
estates,  provided  it  be  to  subjects  of  his  majesty,  and  transport 
their  effects,  as  well  as  their  perr^ons,  without  restraint  upon 
their  emigration,  under  any  pretense  whatever,  except  in  conse- 
quence of  debts  or  of  crimiiuiJ  process; 

"That  those  who  choose  to  retain  their  land?  and  become  sub- 
jects of  his  majesty,  shall  enjoy  the  same  rights  and  privileges, 
the  same  security  for  their  persons  and  effects,  and  liberty  of 
trade,  as  the  old  subjects  of  the  King; 

"That  they  are  commanded,  by  these  presents,  to  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity  and  obedience  to  his"  majesty,  in  presence  of 
Sieur  Sterling,  captain  of  the  Highland  regiment,  the  bearer 
Iiere(>f.  and  furnished  with  our  full  ])owers  fortius  purpose; 

''That  we  recommend  forcibly  to  the  inhabitants,  to  conduct 
tliemselves  like  good  and  faithful  subjects,  avoiding  by  a  wise 
and  prudent  demeanor  all  cause  of  comjtlaiiit  against  them; 

"That  they  act  in  concert  with  his  majesty's  officers,  so  that 
his  troops  may  take  peaceable  possession  of  all  the  posts,  and 
order  be  kept  in  the  country;  by  this  means  alone  they  will  spare 
his  majesty  the  necessity  of  recurring  to  foice  of  arms,  and  will 
find  themselves  saved  from  the  scourge  of  a  bloody  war,  and  of 
ail  the  evils  which  the  march  of  an  army  into  their  country 
would  draw  after  it. 

"  We  direct  that  these  presents  be  read,  published,  and  posted 
up  in  t)je  usual  places. 


Early  Governors  of  the  Illinois  Country.  157 

•  "  Done  and  i^nvcn  at  Head-Quarters,  New  York.  Signed  with 
our  lian  i.  sealed  with  our  seal  at  arms,  and  countersigned  by 
our  Secretary,  tliis  BOtli  December,  1704. 

"THOMAS  GAGE,  [l.  8.] 
*'  By  His  Excellency, 

G.  Maturin." 

Tliis  proclamation  quieted  the  apprehensions  of  the  French, 
Bonie  of  whom  had  fled  to  St.  Louis  on  the  arrival  of  the  Eng- 
lish.  Capt.  Sterling  died  three  months  after  his  arrival,  and 
earlv  the  next  spring  the  English  troops  went  down  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  took  a  vessel  from  Pensacola  for  Philadelphia,  arriv- 
ing there  on  the  15th  of  June,  leaving  the  place  without  a  gar- 
rison.* 

Major  Frascrf  succeeded  Captain  Sterling  as  military  governor, 
who,  after  a  short  term,  was  succeeded  by  Col.  Heed.  The  latter 
made  himself  odious  to  the  French  inliai)itants  by  an  oppressive 
system  of  legislation,  ill-suited  to  the  former  subjects  of  the 
benevolent  St.  Ange.  The  next  in  command  was  Col.  Wilkins, 
who  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  Se]>tember  5th,  1768.  On  the  21st  of 
November  following,  he  recived  orders  from  Gen.  Gage  to 
establish  a  court  of  justice  Seven  judges  were  immediately 
appointed  and  the  first  English  court  ever  convened  in  Illinois, 
held  its  sessions  at  Fort  Chartres,  December  0th,  1708.  It  is 
not  known  how  long  "Wilkins  remained  in  office,  or  what  Eng- 
lish governor  succeeded  him.  It  is  known,  however,  that  St. 
Ange  returned  from  St.  Louis,  and  again  acted  as  Governor  of 
Illinois,  after  having  acted  in  a  similar  ca])acity  over  the  Spanish 
town  across  the  river.ij: 

Pontiac  attended  the  great  Indian  Peace  Council,  convened  at 
Oswego  in  1700,  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  agreeable  to  his 
promise  made  to  Croghan  at  Detroit. 

Here  with  eloquence  he  resigned  his  mighty  ambitions  to  the 
"will  of  the  Great  Spirit,  who  had  decreed  that  his  race  should 
be  friends  to  the  English,"  and  i>ut  the  seal  of  sincerity  upon  his 
words,  with  a  large  belt  of  wampum.  Leaving  the  council  he 
started  in  his  canoe  for  his  home  on  the  Maumee,  loaded  with 
presents  from  Johnson  to  take  to  his  wives.  Three  years  later 
he  appeared  in  St.  Louis,  clad  in  the  full  uniform  of  a  French 
officer,  which  had  been  presented  him  by  the  celebrated  Montcalm 
ten  years  before.     Thus  accoutered,  he  crossed  over  to  the  Illinois 


•Col.  Records  of  Pa.,Vol.  IX.,  p.  818. 

|-l?otli  Peck  and  Rrown  crronoo 
should  bu  Frasor,  the  hiuuu  wh 

^Reynold's  Hist,  of  HI.,  p.  60. 


tHotli  Peck  and  Rrown  crronoously  pive  this  commandant's  nameaa  Farmer. 
It  should  bu  Frasor,  the  hiuuu  who  first  advanced  to  the  plivce  Irom  Ft.  Pitt. 


158  Death  of  Pontiac. 

shore  to  attend  asocial  gathering  at  Cahokia.  Here  he  joined  in 
the  tumultuous  gaiety  of  frontier  life,  to  which  the  whisky  bottle 
contributed  its  full  measure  of  influence.  He  soon  became  intox- 
icated, when  a  miscreant  of  the  Illinois  tribe  stealthily  crept  up 
behind  and  despatched  him  with  a  hatchet,  St.  Ange,  at  this 
time  Governor  of  St.  Louis,  conveyed  his  body  over  the  river  and 
buried  it  with  the  honors  of  war,  beside  the  fort. 

A  barrel  of  whisky  was  the  reward  which  the  assassin  received 
for  the  bloody  deed,  and  an  English  fur  trader,  named  William 
son,  was  the  infamous  giver  and  instigator  of  the  disgraceful  work, 
probably  under  an  impression  that  he  had  lionized  himself  in  the 
estimation  of  the  English,  whose  rule  had  but  recently  begun 
here.  The  Illinois  tribes  approved  the  act  under  a  similar  mis- 
apprehension, but  they  soon  paid  dearly  for  it.  The  northern 
tribes,  to  whom  the  name  of  Pontiac  was  still  dear,  were  stung  to 
madness  and  nearly  exterminated  them  in  the  fearful  vengeance 
which  was  soon  visited  upon  their  heads.  The  horrors  of  Starved 
Rock  grew  out  of  this  vengeful  war;  where,  as  tradition  has  it, 
a  large  band  of  Illinois  took  refuge  for  safety,  but  were  hemmed 
in  on  all  sides  till  the  whole  band  died  with  the  lingering  torments 
of  starvation. 

The  Illinois  tribes  never  recovered  from  this  blow,  especially  as 
their  potent  allies,  the  French,  could  no  longer  ]^rotect  them  as 
they  had  done  ever  since  1685,  in  thedaysof  LaSalle  andTonty,a 

feriod  running  through  three  generations.  In  1730,  when  the 
llinois  tribes  Mere  in  their  glory  under  their  alliances  with  the 
French.  I).  Artagutte,  the  dashing  Canadian,  applied  to  them  for 
assistance  in  their  war  a-j-ai  nst  the  Chickasaws,  in  the  far-off  rev  mis 
of  the  present  State  of  Mississippi,  between  whom  and  the  I"  h 
of  New  Orleans  a  sanguinary  war  was  raging. 

Chicago,  the  sapient  chief,  who  was  named  long  after  the  Chi- 
cago portage,  was  known  by  the  same  honorable  appellation,  en- 
tered heartily  into  D.  Artugette's  plans,  and  at  the  head  of  500 
braves  followed  him  to  the  country  of  the  Chickasaws,  where  they 
were  to  join  their  force  to  that  of  Bienville,  to  act  in  conjunction 
against  the  formidable  enemy.  Bienville  failed  to  resvch  the  des- 
tined place  ap]>o  in  ted  foi-  tlie  junction,  but  th  )  undaunted  Illinois, 
with  the  fifty  French  soldiers  who  accitinj)!  't'd  them,  led  on  by 
Artagutte,  succeeded  in  taking  two  Cliicka.-.aw  forts,  but  on  at- 
tacking tlie  third  and  last,  Antaguttc  fell  wounded,  and  was  taken 
prisoner.  Thus  repulsod,  Chicago  led  his  men  hack  to  the  Illinois,* 
and  the  victorious  Chickasaws  l)ore  in  triumph  savage  trojdiies  of 
their  victory  to  Oglethorpe,  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  witli  whom 
tliey  were  in  alliance. 

♦Monettos  Miss.  Val.  Vol.  I.,  P.  286,  287. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  English  attemjpt  to  prevent  Settlements  beyond  the  Ohio 
Jiiver — Early  Gomvievclal  Policy — The  Northwest  An- 
nexed to  Canada— Battle  of  Point  Pleasant — Logan — Rev- 
ohitlonary  Sentiments  on  the  Frontier — Girty,  Elliot  and 
McKee — The  Continetital  Congress — The  Issue  among  the 
Indians — Expeditions  against  St.  Joseph^— George  liogers 
Clark' — His  Expedition  against  the  Illinois  Country  and 
Vincennes — Indian  Council  at  Cahohia — Father  Gibatdt— 
Francis  Vigo — War  Declared  Bet\ceen  England  and.  Spain 
— Its  effect  on  the  Illinois  Country. 

With  nations  as  with  individuals,  a  sudden  accumulation  of 
power  or  wealth  bewilders  the  senses  at  first,  till  time  can  reduce 
the  accelerated  force  applied  to  the  driving  wheels,  or,  in  other 
words,  restore  tranquility  to  the  overstimulated  brain.  Thou»h 
England  has  never  been  conspicuous  for  such  infirmities,  yet  she 
was  not  proof  against  them,  and  when  her  crown  became  enriched 
by  the  acquisition  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  her  first  de- 
termination was  to  prevent  any  settlers  from  ap])roj>riating  any 
part  of  the  acquired  territory,  and  to  this  end  King  George  III 
issued  the  following  instructions  : 
"Gkokgi:,  K 

[l.  s.]  Instructions  to  our  well  beloved  John  Penn,  Esquire, 
Lieutenant  Governor  of  our  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  in  Amer- 
ica, given  at  our  Court  of  St.  James,  the  21th  day  of  October, 
1765,  in  the  Fifth  year  of  our  Reign, 

Whereas,  it  hath  been  represented  unto  us  that  several  persons 
from  Pennsylvania  and  the  back  settlements  of  Virginia  have 
iiii^jrated  to  the  Avestward  of  the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  these 
have  seated  themselves  on  lands  contiguous  to  the  river  Ohio,  in 
express  disobedience  to  our  Royal  Proclamation  of  October,  1703, 
it  13  therefore  our  Will  and  Pleasure,  and  you  are  hereby  slrictly 
enjoined  aiul  required  to  use  your  best  endeavours  to  suppress 
such  unwarrantable  proceedings,  and  to  put  a  stop  to  these  and 


160  The  Northwest  Annexed  to  Canada. 

other  the  like  encroachments  for  the  future,  by  causinf]^  all  per- 
sons beloiiginj?  to  the  province  under  your  i^overnnient  wlio  have 
thus  irreijularly  seated  themselves  on  Lands  to  the  westward  of 
the  Alleghany  mountains  immediately  to  evacuate  those  settle- 
ments, and  that  you  do  enforce,  as  far  as  you  are  able,  a  more 
strict  obedience  to  our  commands  signitied  in  Our  Said  Royal 
Proclaination,  and  provide  against  any  future  Violence  thereof." 

What  ambitious  end  Encrjand  had  in  view  throu^rh  tJiis  im- 
practicable  scheme  has  never  been  brouglit  to  light,  but  it  is  no 
f'ar-fetclied  deduction,  that  in  her  overweening  care  to  provide  for 
her  nobility  by  i)irth,  as  well  as  those  knighted  for  services  to  the 
State,  she  intended  to  parcel  out  the  tairest  portions  of  the 
acquired  territory  for  their  benefit.  But  if  such  a  dream  had 
ever  entered  the  brail  of  any  loyal  representative  of  English 
power,  the  illusion  was  soon  dispelled  by  the  wide-spread  and 
irre]>ressible  pioneei  spirit  of  her  Colonial  subjects  along  the 
Atlantic  coast.  Had  these  been  tempered  after  the  pattern  of 
the  Canadian  French,  such  a  scheme  could  have  been  made  a 
success,  but  destiny  never  decreed  them  to  become  the  willing 
instruments  of  their  own  subordination  to  any  power  above  that 
of  their  own  creation,  and  the  allurements  of  the  forest  soon  be- 
came irresistible  to  the  ambitious  spirits  of  young  Anglo-Saxon 
blood,  chafing  to  distinguish  themselves  by  a  bold  push  into  the 
wilderness. 

Spain  now  held  Louisiana,  wiiich  consisted  of  New  Orleana 
and  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  an  effort  to  bring  the 
trade  of  the  Illinois  country  into  northern  channels  was  now 
contemplated  by  General  Gfige  and  Sir  William  Johnson,  who 
together  represented  the  head-centre  of  political  power.f  But 
the  extra  expense  of  transportation  by  the  northern  routes  pre- 
sented insurmountable  obstacles  in  the  way,  and  was  destined  still 
to  do  so  for  the  next  halt-century. 

^Meantime,  the  American  Revolution  was  beginning  lo  cast  its 
shadow  before  its  coming,  even  on  the  extreme  bortlers  of  Vir- 
ginia and  Pennsylvania,  and  clearly  manifested  itself  in  the 
English  ]H)licy  with  the  Indians.  Wliile  these  issues  were  com- 
ing to  the  surface,  the  French  towns  of  the  Illinois  again  reposed 
in  (jiiietiide. 

On  the  2nd  of  June.  1774,  the  British  Parliament  pacsed  an 
act  which  extended  the  limits  of  Caiuuia,  so  as  to  include  all  the 

•Note. — Besides  Hie  Royal  Proclamation  rof-'rrc  1  to  above  in  ITS'),  aPrnrla- 
mation  w^is  issnpil  by  (iov.  Cinge  as  late  as  177J.  of  similar  import,  which  may 
be  found  i*  Dillon's  Ind.  p.  ^<(').  The  proclamation  to  Gov.  Penn  here  quoted  is 
taken  from  Tlie  Colonial  Records  of  Penn.     Vol.  IX,  p.  331. 

fDoc.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  340-342. 


Battle  cf  Point  Pleasant.  161 

territory  north  of  the  Ohio  Eiver  to  the  lakes.  This  extraor- 
dinary measure  was  regarded  by  the  English  Colonies  as  a  bid 
for  Canadian  loyalty,  in  the  event  of  an  open  rupture.  But  it 
was  soon  followed  by  other  British  measures,  which  gave  con-  • 
vincing  proofs  that  in  such  an  event  the  British  intended  to 
make  the  most  out  of  an  alliance  with  the  Indians  that  their 
services  could  bring  to  the  cause. 

Early  in  1773,  Lord  Dunmore,  the  last  Colonial  Governor  of 
Virginia,  withdrew  the  troops  from  Fort  Pitt.  The  next  year, 
owing  to  some  cold-blooded  and  unprovoked  murders,  committed 
by  Cresap,  Greathouse  and  otliers  against  peaceable  Indians, 
the  war-whoop  again  rung  along  the  border,  and  a  large  army  was 
raised  to  protect  the  frontier  against  the  exasperated  savages. 
A  large  detachment  of  it  were  ordered  to  advance  down  the  Oliio 
river,  under  command  of  Col.  Lewis.  Beaching  Point  Pleas- 
ant, at  the  mouth  of  tlie  Kanhaway,  wliile  the  army  lay  en- 
camped, October  10th,  1774,  it  was  attacked  by  a  heavy  force  of 
Indians,  under  the  celebrated  Chiefs  Cornstalk,  Bed  Hawk  and 
Logan.  The  battle  raged  from  sunrise  to  one  o'clock  with  un- 
Hinching  courage  on  both  sides.  The  loss  of  tlie  Avhites  was 
double  that  of  the  Indians,  but  the  desperate  resolution  of  the 
former  finally  prevailed,  and  the  Indians,  mostly  Shawanese, 
withdrew  during  the  succeeding  night. 

The  family  of  Lo^an  were  among  the  murdered  victims  of 
Cresap,  which  fired  the  resentment  of  the  hitherto  peacable  hero 
to  desperation,  and  drew  from  him  the  speech  that  gave  him  im- 
perishable fame. 

The  following  extract  from  the  American  Pioneer^  gives  the 
speech  verbatim,  together  with  the  circumstances  coimected  with 
its  immediate  rece})tion: 

"In  the  spring  of  the  year  1774,  a  robbery  was  committed  by 
Bome  Indians  on  certain  land  adventurers  on  tlie  rivei  Oliio. 
The  whites  in  that  quarter,  according  to  their  custom,  undertook 
to  punish  this  outrage  in  a  suinmary  wa}-.  Captain  Michael 
Cresap,  and  a  certain  Daniel  Greathouse,  leading  on  tliese  par- 
ties, surprised,  at  different  times,  traveling  and  hunting  parties 
of  the  Indians,  having  their  women  and  children  with  them,  and 
iijurdered  many.  Among  these  Avere  unfortunately  the  family 
of  Logan,  a  chief  celebrated  in  peace  and  war,  and  long  distin- 
guished as  the  friend  of  the  whites.  This  unworthy  return  pro- 
vo'ked  his  vengeance.  He  accordingly  signalized  himself  in  the 
war  which  ensued.  In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  a  decisive 
battle  was  fought  at  the  mouth  of  tiie  Great  Kanhaway,  between 
tlie  collected  forces  of  the  Shawanese,  Alingoes,  and  Delawares,  and 
a  detachment  of  the  Virginia  militia.  The  Indians  were  de- 
feated and  sued  for  peace.     Logan,  however,  disdained  to  be  seen 


162  Logan  8  Speech. 

among  the  suppliants.  But  lest  the  sincerity  of  a  treaty  should 
be  disturbed,  from  which  so  distiuijuished  a  chief  absented  him- 
self, he  sent,  by  a  messenger,  the  following  speech  to  be  delivered 
to  Lord  Duninore. 

" '  I  appeal  to  any  white  man  to  say,  if  ever  he  entered  Lo- 
gan's cabin  hungry-,  and  he  gave  him  not  meat;  if  ever  he  came 
cold  and  naked,  and  he  clothed  him  not.  During  the  course  of 
the  last  long  and  bloody  war,  Logan  remained  idle  in  his  cabin, 
an  advocate  for  peace.  Such  was  my  love  for  the  whites,  that 
my  countrymen  pointed  as  they  passed,  and  said, '  Logan  is  the 
friend  of  white  men.'  I  had  even  thought  to  have  lived  with 
you,  but  for  the  injuries  of  one  man.  Colonel  Cresap,  the  last 
spring,  in  cold  blood,  and  unprovoked,  murdered  all  the  relations 
of  Logan,  not  even  sparing  my  women  and  children.  There 
mns  not  a  drop  of  my  blood  in  the  veins  of  any  living  creature. 
This  called  on  me  for  revenge.  I  have  sought  it;  I  have  killed 
many;  I  have  fully  glutted  my  vengeance:  for  my  country  I  re- 
joice at  the  beams  of  peace.  But  do  not  harbor  a  thought  that 
mine  is  the  joy  of  fear.  Logan  never  felt  fear.  He  will  not 
turn  on  his  heel  to  save  his  life.  Who  is  there  to  mourn  for  Lo- 
gan ?    Not  one.' " 

Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  his  Notes  on  Virginia,  as  he  states,  in 
1781-2.  They  were  first  published  in  Paris,  and  afterwards  in  the 
United  States.  In  1797,  great  excitement  was  raised  against 
him  by  the  Cresap  interest,  in  which  it  was,  among  other  tilings, 
insinuated  that  he  wrote  the  speech  himself.  Mr.  Jefterson  de- 
fended himself  in  an  appendix  to  his  Notes. 

The  Indian  towns  were  now  at  the  mercy  of  the  victors,  espe- 
cially when  the  main  body  advanced  across  the  Ohio,  under 
Duninore  himself.  But  instead  of  pushing  the  defeated  Indians 
to  extremities,  he  convened  a  council  and  made  peace  with  them 
on  generous  terms. 

At  Fort  Gower,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Hockhocking, 
on  the  5th  of  November,  1774,  the  officers  of  Dunmore's  army 
held  a  meeting,  at  which  one  of  them  spoke  as  follows: — "Gen- 
tlemen: Having  now  concluded  the  campaign,  by  the  assistance 
of  Providence,  with  honor  and  advantage  to  the  colony  and  our- 
selves, it  only  remains  that  we  should  give  our  country  the 
strongest  assurance  that  we  are  ready  at  all  times,  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power,  to  maintain  and  defend  her  just  rights  and  privi- 
leges. We  have  lived  about  three  months  in  the  woods,  without 
any  intelligence  from  Boston,  or  from  the  delegates  from  Phila- 
delpliia.*  It  is  possible,  from  the  groundless  reports  of  design- 
ing  men,   that  our  country  may    be  jealous  of  the  use  such  a 

*  The  Continental  Conf^'^ss,  which  convened  on  the  5th  September,  1774. 


I'he  American  devolution   Begins.  163 

body  would  make  of  anus  in  their  hands  at  this  critical  junc- 
ture. That  we  are  a  respectable  body  is  certain,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  we  can  live  weeks  without  bread  or  salt;  that  we 
can  sleep  in  the  open  air,  without  any  covering  but  that  of  the  can- 
opy of  heaven;  and  that  our  men  can  march  and  shoot  with  any  in 
the  known  world.  Blessed  with  these  talents,  let  us  solemnly  en- 
gage to  one  another,  and  our  country  in  particular,  that  we  will 
use  them  to  no  purpose  but  for  the  honor  and  advantage  of 
America  in  general,  and  of  Virginia  in  particular.  It  behooves, 
ns,  then,  for  the  satisfaction  of  our  country,  that  we  should  give 
them  our  real  sentiments,  by  way  of  resolves,  at  this  very  alarm- 
ing crisis."  The  following  resohitions  were  then  adopted  by  the 
meeting,  without  a  dissenting  voice,  and  ordered  to  be  published 
in  the  Virginia  Gazette. 

^^Jiesolved,  That  we  will  bear  the  most  faithful  allegiance  to 
his  majesty.  King  George  the  Third,  while  his  majjesty  delights 
to  reign  over  a  brave  and  free  people;  that  we  will,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  life  and  everything  dear  and  valuable,  exert  ourselves 
in  support  of  the  honor  of  his  crown,  and  the  dignity  of  the 
British  Empire.  But  as  the  love  of  liberty,  and  attachments 
to  the  real  interests  and  just  riglits  of  America,  outweigh  every 
other  consideration,  we  resolve  that  we  will  exert  every  power 
within  us  for  the  defense  of  American  liberty,  and  for  the  sup- 
porting of  her  just  rights  and  privileges;  not  in  any  precipitate, 
riotous,  and  tumultuous  manner,  but  when  regularly  called  forth 
by  the  unanimous  voice  of  our  countrymen." 

These  words  may  be  taken  as  a  representative  type  of  the  back- 
woods feeling  which  two  years  later  declared  itself  in  an  open 
declaration  of  Independence,  but  yet  there  were  among  these 
headstrong  borderers  a  few  men,  intensiiied  in  their  hatred  to 
civilized  society,  who  cast  their  lot  among  the  Indians  as  a  choice, 
and  allied  thenir^elves  to  the  English  cause,  not  from  principle, 
but  as  a  means  wherewith  to  ventilate  their  spite  against  any- 
thing that  stood  in  the  way  of  their  low-bred  ambition.  Simon 
^ji*ty;  George  Elliot  and  Alexander  McKee  were  noted  examples 
of  this  kind  of  nondescript  waywardness,  destined  to  e.xert  a  po- 
tent influence  in  the  coming  strugirle. 

In  177-i  the  lir.st  Continental  Congress  asscml)led  in  Philadel- 
phia. The  next  year,  1775,  Gen.  Gage,  awakening  one  morning 
in  his  nnarters  in  Boston,  beheld  with  astonishment  the  heights 
of  Bunker  Hill  fortitied.  A  herce  battle  followed.  Canada  was 
invaded  the  same  year  by  Arnold  and  Montgomery. 

The  same  year,  while  the  (Continental  Congress  was  holdinj' 
its  second  session  in  l*hiladelphia.  Commissioners  were  appointed 
to  occupy  Fort  Bit^  for  the  purpose  of  making  treaties  with  the 


164  Indian  Ideas  of  the  llevolxitlon. 

Indians  in  favor  of  the  forthcominj?  cjoverninent.  To  offset  this 
policy,  the  British  inauifurated  a  siiriilar  one  for  their  own  ben- 
efit from  Detroit.  As  a  result,  two  prominent  Delaware  Chiefs, 
Buckongahelas  and  AVhite  Eyes,  took  the  stump  amonij  the 
denizens  of  the  forest  as  exponents  of  the  rival  claims  of  the 
belliiiferants  to  savage  sup])Ort.  Buckongahelas,  the  friend  of 
the  Englisii,  spoke  first,  as  follows  : 

"Friends!  listen  to  what  I  say  to  you!  You  see  a  great  and 
powerful  nation  divided!  You  see  the  father  fighting  against  the 
son,  and  the  son  against  the  father!  The  father  has  called  on  his 
Indian  children  to  assist  him  in  punishing  his  children,  the 
Americans,  who  have  become  refractory.  1  took  time  to  con- 
sider what  I  should  do — whether  or  not  I  should  receive  the 
hatchet  of  my  father  to  assist  him.  At  first  I  looked  upon  it  as- 
a  family  quarrel,  in  wliich  I  was  not  int-^vested.  However,  at 
length,  it  appeared  to  me  that  the  father  was  in  the  right,  and 
his  children  deserved  to  be  punished  a  little.  That  tliis  must  be 
the  case,  I  concluded  from  tlie  many  cruel  acts  his  offspring  had 
committed,  from  time  to  time,  on  his  Indian  children,  in  en- 
croaching on  their  land,  stealing  their  property,  shooting  at  and 
murdering,  without  cause,  men,  women,  aiid  children.  Yes, 
even  murdering  those  who,  at  all  times,  had  been  friendly  to 
them,  and  were  placed  for  protection  under  the  roof  of  their 
fathers'  house — the  father  himself  standing  sentry  at  thedcor  at 
the  time.*  Friends!  often  lias  the  father  been  obliged  to  settle 
and  make  amends  for  the  wrongs  and  mischiefs  done  us  by  his 
refractory  children,  yet' these  do  not  grow  better.  No!  they  re- 
main the  same  and  will  continue  to  be  so  as  long  as  we  have  any 
land  left  us.  Look  back  at  the  murders  committed  by  the  Long- 
knives  on  many  of  our  relations,  who  lived  peaceable  neighbors 
to  them  on  the  Ohio.  Did  they  not  kill  them  without  the  least 
provocation  ?  Are  they,  do  you  think,  better  now  than  they  were 
then?" 

To  this  speech  White  Eyes,  the  friend  of  the  new  government, 
then  without  a  name,  replied: 

"Suppose  a  father  had  a  little  son  whom  he  loved  and  in- 
dulged while  young  but,  growing  up  to  be  a  youth,  began  to 
think  of  hav  ag  some  help  from  him,  and,  making  up  a  small 
pack,  bade  him  carry  it  for  him.  The  boy  cheerfully  takes  the 
pack,  following  his  father  with  it  The  father,  finding  the  boy 
willing  and  obedient,  continues  in  his  way;  and,  as  the  boy 
grows  stronger,  so  the  father  makes  the  pack  in  proportion  larger 
— ^yet  as  long  as  the  boy  is  able  to  carry  the  pack,  he  does  so 

*Alluding  to  the  murder  of  the  Conestoga  Indians. — See  Gordon's  Histouy 
OF  Peknstlvania,  406. 


White  Eyes'  Speech  Printed  hy  Congress.  165 

Avithout  grumbling.  At  len<]fth,  however,  the  boy,  having  arrived 
at  manhood,  wliile  tlie  father  is  making  np  the  pack  for  him,  in 
comes  a  person  uf  an  evil  disposition,  and,  learning  who  was  the 
carrier  of  the  pack,  advises  the  lather  to  make  it  heavier,  for 
surely  the  son  is  able  to  carry  a  large  pack.  The  father,  listen- 
ing rather  to  the  bad  adviser  than  consulting  his  own  judgment 
and  the  feelings  of  tenderness,  follows  the  advice  of  the  hard- 
hearted adviser,  and  makes  up  a  heavy  load  for  liis  son  to  carry. 
Ilie  son,  now  grown  up,  examining  the  weight  of  the  load  he  is 
to  carrj',  addresses  the  ])arent  in  these  words:  '  Dear  fjither,  this 
]>ack  is  too  heavy  for  me  to  carry — do,  pray,  lighten  it.  1  am 
willing  to  do  what  I  can,  but  I  am  unable  to  carry  this  load.' 
The  father's  heart  having,  by  this  time,  become  hardened,  and 
the  bad  adviser  calling  to  liim,  'whip  him,  if  he  disobeys  and 
refuses  to  carry  the  pack,'  now  in  a  peremptory  tone  orders  his 
son  to  take  up  the  pack  and  carry  it  otf,  or  he  will  whip  him,  and 
already  takes  up  a  stick  to  beat  him.  '  So! '  says  the  son, '  am  I 
to  be  served  thus  for  not  doing  w^hat  I  am  unable  to  do?  "Well, 
if  entreaties  avail  nothing  with  you,  father — and  it  is  to  be  de- 
cided by  blows  whether  or  not  I  am  able  to  carry  a  pack  so 
heavy — then  I  have  no  other  choice  left  me  but  that  of  resisting 
your  unreasonable  demand  by  my  strength;  and  so,  striking  each 
other,  we  may  see  who  is  the  stronges\'  " 

This  absurd  meta])hor  was  considered  worth  preserving  by 
botli  governments,  as  models  of  that  gushing  style  of  logic 
wherewith  to  influence  the  Indian  mind.  Buckongahelas'  speech 
was  printed  by  officers  in  the  British  Indian  Department,  and 
AVhite  Eyes'  speech  was  printed  by  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  Continental  Congress  on  the  13th  of  July,  1775.* 

The  British  had  strono;  garrisons  at  Detroit  and  Michilimac- 
mac  at  this  time,  and  a  small  garrison  at  St.  Joseph,  to  preserve 
their  interests  at  the  Southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  for 
even  in  that  early  day  this  locality  was  regarded  with  favor.  But 
St.  Joseph  was  looked  upon  as  a  place  of  more  promise  than 
Chicago,  on  account  of  the  superiority  of  her  'uver  as  a  harbor. 

AVhile  the  brains  and  the  muscle  inherited  from  the  ancient 
Briton's  were  laying  the  dimension  stone  on  the  Atlantic  coast 
for  a  new  nation,  the  French  inhabitants  of  Yincennes  and  the 
Illinois  country,  in  blissful  iguon.ice  of  the  ruling  policy  of  the 
conntry,  were  cultiv%ating  their  lields  in  common,  and  sharing  the 
harvest  of  a  summer's  toil  with  the  harmony  of  bees.  By  the 
year  1777,  however,  one  year  after  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence,   an   erratic  emigrant   from   Pennsylvania,   named  Tom 

•American  Archives,  4th  S.  Vol.  II,  p.  1880. 


166  iSt.  JosipJi   Taken  from  the  British, 

Brady,  who  had  settled  at  Caliokia,  planned  an  expedition  a<;ainst 
the  British  post  of  St.  Joseph.  Tlie  place  was  i^arrisoned  bj  21 
soldiers,  but  Bardy's  party,  relying  ujjoii  the  prestiiije  of  a  sur- 
sprise,  felt  conlidence  in  their  ability  to  take  it,  althouii^h  their 
own  force  numbered  but  36  men.  Accordingly  they  took  ad- 
vantage of  niglit  to  couie  upon  the  place,  when  the  astonished 
garrison  gave  themselves  up  as  i)risoiiers.  On  returning,  the  in- 
vaders had  proceeded  no  further  than  the  Calumet  river,  when 
the}'  were  attacked  by  a  party  of  British  and  Indians,  number- 
ing 300.  Two  of  Brady's  party  were  killed,  and  Brady,  with  tho 
remainder  of  his  party,  taken  prisoners.  IS'ot  long  after- 
wards, he  managed  to  make  his  escape,  and  threaded  tiie  forest 
back  to  his  native  place  in  Pennsylvania.  Subsequently  he  re- 
turned to  Cahokia,  where  he  became  Sheriff  of  St.  Clair  county 
in  1790.* 

Early  the  next  spring  a  daring  Frenchman  named  Pauletta 
Maize,  enlisted  a  force  of  65  men  from  the  French  towns  of  the 
Illinois,  and  from  St.  Louis,  and  marched  against  the  same  place, 
to  re-take  it.  The  expedition  was  successful,  and  all  the  fura 
and  peltries  in  the  fort  were  taken  from  the  British  as  the  spoil 
of  war.  Many  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  Cahokia  were 
in  this  expedition.f 

Returning  to  the  frontier  of  English  settlements,  we  find  sucb 
dauntless  spirits  as  Dr.  Walker,  Boone,  Kenton,  Zane,  Harrod, 
McAffee,  and  others,  pushing  into  the  wilderness  realms  of  Ken- 
tucky, building  stockades  and  making  settlements,  while  th& 
forest  was  infested  with  British  emissaries,  urging  the  Indiana, 
to  take  up  the  tomahawk  against  the  Americans. 

Prominent  among  these  pioneer  spirits  was  Col.  Geo.  Roger* 
Clark,  a  native  of  Albemarle  county,  Va.  All  these  backwoods- 
men were  conspicuous  for  their  loyalty  to  the  cause  of  American 
Independence,  and  the  field  they  had  chosen  wherewith  to  bring 
aid  to  that  cause,  was  adapted  to  their  frontier  accomplishments,, 
and  proved  effectual,  both  as  a  diversion  and  a  palliation,  to  di- 
minish the  force  of  Indian  invasion  on  the  frontier.  This  waa 
the  immediate  incentive  of  Clark,  in  a  plan  of  which  he  was  the 
first  projector,  to  take  possession  of  Vincennes  and  the  Illinoia 
villages,  and  set  up  the  authority  of  the  new  government  in  those 
distant  posts,  as  a  nucleus  of  power  round  which  the  Indiana 
could  gather.  The  infant  settlements  of  Kentucky  were  then 
begun,  and  Clark  was  among  them,  but  left  for  Virginia  on  the 
first  of  October,  1777,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  his  plan  before 

•Western  Annals,  p.  696.     Reynold's  Hist.  111.  p.  68. 
fWestem  Annals,  p.  697. 


Clarke  Takes  Kaskaskia.  167 

Patrick  Henry,  the  Governor.  On  the  10th  of  December  he 
liad  an  interview  with  him,  and  laid  his  plans  before  him. 

After  several  interviews,  Governor  Henry  gave  his  consent, 
and  immediate  preparations  were  made  to  j)iit  them  into  execu- 
tion. The  utmost  secresj  was  necessary  to  its  success,  for  had  it 
been  known  in  advance,  the  English  could  have  sent  a  suflBcient 
force  from  Detroit  to  take  the  whole  party  prisoners  ere  they 
arrived  on  the  ground.  As  a  blind  to  the  real  destination  of  the 
expedition.  Governor  Henry  first  gave  Clark  instructions  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Kentucky  settlements  with  his  force,  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  them  against  Indian  attack.  These  were  published, 
and  gave  rise  to  some  murmurs  among  the  revolutionary  spirits 
of  the  border  that  soldiers  should  be  sent  on  such  an  errand 
when  they  were  needed  in  the  front  to  fight  the  British. 

The  ex})edition  embarked  from 'Pittsburgh,  "shot  the  falls," 
as  Clark  expressed  it,  at  Lowisburg,  on  the  24th  of  June,  kept 
on  down  the  river  to  a  little  above  Fort  Massac,  fifty  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  from  thence  they  marched  across  the 
counti'y  to  Kaskaskia. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1778,  when  night  had  shed  its  gloom  over 
river,  grove  and  prairie,  the  people  of  Kai^kaskia  were  startled 
by  the  cry,  "//*««,?/  one  enters  the  streets,,  he  shall  be  shot!^^ 
The  terrified  inhabitants  remained  In  their  liouses  during  the 
fearful  night,  and  when  morning  cauie  a  few  of  the  principal 
citizens  were  seized  and  put  in  irons.  Every  avenue  of  escape 
•was  cut  off",  and  the  wretched  inhabitants,  who  had  been  told  by 
their  British  Governor  Pochblave,  that  the  Longknives  (Ameri- 
cans) were  barbarous  and  cruel  to  the  last  degree,  began  to  think 
their  barbarity  had  not  been  overrated,  nor  were  their  fears 
quieted  on  beholding  the  uncouth  motions  of  their  conquerors, 
60  different  from  the  graceful  manners  of  the  French,  who  had 
brought  with  them  the  blandishments  of  Paris  to  be  reproduced 
in  the  American  wilderness. 

Under  these  painful  forebodings,  Gibault,  the  Priest,  and 
others,  with  deep  humility,  approached  the  General  who  com- 
manded the  rough  band,  at  whose  feet  the  town  lay  prostrate. 
The  very  first  attempt  to  parley  with  him  was  embai'rassing,  for 
on  entering  his  quarters,  among  the  muscular  backwoods  officers 
who  were  around  him,  there  was  no  distinction  in  etiquette  or 
dress,  and  the  perplexed  Prie^t  w^as  obliged  to  ask  who  the  com- 
mander was.  On  being  informed,  a  painful  pause  ensued  for  the 
want  of  words  wheniwith  to  frame  the  requests  he  was  about  to 
inake.  The  suspense  over,  Gibault,  in  an  attitude  of  supplica- 
tion, begged  the  privilege  that  his  people  might  depart  in  peace, 
without  being  separated  from  their  families,  and  hoped  a  small 
allowance  of  provisions  might  be  retained  by  them  for  their  \m- 


168  Tlie  Grand  Door. 

mediate  wants;  which  mild  request  was  accompanied  with  an 
assurance  that  many  of  the  inhabitants  had  frequently  expressed 
themselves  in  favor  of  the  Americans  in  their  contest  with  the 
mother  country. 

Up  to  this  moment  Clark  had  wrought  upon  their  fears  only. 
Now  came  the  sunny  side  to  the  front,  and  never  did  the  nobility 
masked  beneath  a  rough  exterior,  in  the  bosom  of  the  forest 
ranirer,  show  to  better  advantacre.  In  brief  words  he  informed 
them  that  the  Americans  came  not  to  deprive  them  of  their  lib- 
erty, or  to  interfere  with  their  religion,  or  to  plundd  them  of 
tlieir  property.  The  shackles  were  now  taken  from  the  captives 
and  freedom  proclaimed  to  all.  The  people  were  now  in  trans- 
ports. The  bells  were  rung  and  the  streets  were  vocal  with  song, 
and  gayety  reigned  throughout  the  town. 

On  the  6th  of  February  France  had  acknowledged  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States.  The  news  came  to  Gen.  Clark 
while  on  his  way  down  the  river,  iu  a  letter  from  Col.  Campbell, 
at  Fort  Pitt.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  timely  for  Clark, 
as  he  depended  on  an  accession  to  his  number  from  the  French 
in  order  to  complete  his  plans  for  the  conquest  of  the  country, 
and  this  news  would  help  his  cause.  He  therefore  lost  no  time 
in  proceeding  to  business,  and  opened  recruiting  quarters  at  once. 
The  ranks  for  a  company  were  soon  filled  witli  newly  enlisted 
Frenchmen,  eager  to  serve  in  a  cause  that  had  already  been  es- 
poused by  their  country.  Cahokia  and  all  the  other  French 
towns  acquiesced  in  the  new  order,  and  contributed  their  quota 
to  fill  the  ranks  of  Clark's  little  army. 

The  success  which  had  thus  far  attended  Clark  was  but  the  first 
steps  in  the  wo-k  before  him.  The  whole  country  was  full  of 
Indian^  who  had  been  conquered  by  the  Kiiglisli  in  the  recent 
war.  ana  were  now  reconciled  to  them,  all  the  more  as  they  were 
dependent  on  them  for  supplies. 

During  the  ])rogress  of  the  American  Revolution  thus  far,  the 
English  traders  and  agents  had  been  busy  in  the  forests,  inflam- 
ing the  minds  of  the  Indians  against  the  Americans  by  the  most 
absurd  falsehoods,  im])ressed  upon  their  savage  sensii)i!itie8  by 
forest  eloquence.  To  overcojjie  this  influence  was  all  important, 
and  Clark  set  about  the  l)usiness  with  masteHv  skill.  The  most 
influential  Indian  chief  in  the  whole  coui'  was  The  Grand 
Door,  so  called  be  ause  his  influence  was  _  potent  over  tlie 
tribes  along  the  Wabash  river  that  no  one  would  presume  to  en- 
ter its  valley  on  an  important  mission,  without  ti  onsulting 
him.  To  Capt.  Helm,  one  of  Gen.  Clark's  otfirerir,  ..s  entrusted 
this  delicate  business.  Tiie  fir-.t  thing  to  do  was  to  explain  to 
The  Grand  Door  the  nature  of  the  contest  Ijttween  the  Anieri- 
iMiis  and  the  Enirli-h  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  doubt  iu 


Indian  Councils.  ^^^ 

his  majesty's  savage  instincts  as  to  the  justice,  and,  especially, 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  American  cause— the  latter  point  be- 
inc  no  less  important  in  Indian  diplomacy  than    in  civilized. 

'With  these  instructions  Capt.  Helm  started  for  the  headquar- 
ters of  the  Grand  Door,  located  in  a  Piankeshaw  village  close  by 
Vinoennes.  Arriving  safely  at  the  latter  place,  he  was  well  re- 
ceived bv  the  French  inhabitants,  there  being  no  English  gar- 
rison there  at  the  time.  The  Door  vvas  then  sent  for,  and  on  his 
^arrival  a  letter  was  given  him  from  Gen.  Clark.  Re  received  it 
with  becoming  dignity,  and  pro.nised  to  lay  its  contents  before 
his  people.  For  several  days  the/  held  council  over  the  matter, 
when  the  chief  returned  to"  Vincennes  and  announced  to  Capt. 
Helm  that  he  was  now  a  Big  Knife,  meaning  that  he  had  es- 
poused the  cause  of  the  Americans.  The  evening  was  spent  in 
merriment  suited  to  the  occasion. 

No  sooner  was  it  known  that  The  Grand  Door  had  become  a 
''Big  Knife,"  than  all  the  other  tribes  of  the  country  visited 
Capt.  Helm's  quarters  at  Vincennes,  and  gave  in  their  adhesion 
to  the  Americans.  The  news  of  this  accession  of  strength  was 
]ivomj)tl3'  sent  by  an  Indian  messenger  to  Gen.  Clark,  at  Kaskas- 
kia.  Meantime,  it  was  soon  spread  among  the  tribes  throughout 
the  entire  Illinois  country.  A  council  was  convened  at  Cahokia, 
with  their  representative  chieJfs,  to  whom  Gen.  Clark,  after  ex- 
plainiiig  to  tliem  the  nature  of  the  contest  between  the  Ameri- 
icans  and  the  English,  made  the  following  speech  to  them  : 

'*  You  can  now  judge  who  is  in  the  riglit.  I  have  already  told 
you  who  I  am.  Here  is  a  bloody  belt  and  a  white  one;  take 
which  you  please.  Behave  like  men :  and  don't  let  your  being 
surrounded  by  the  Big  Knives  cause  you  to  take  up  the  one  belt 
with  your  hands,  while  your  Iiearts  take  up  the  other.  If  you 
take  the  bloody  path  you  shall  leave  the  town  in  safety,  and  may 
go  and  join  your  friends,  the  Englisli.  We  will  then  try,  like 
warriors,  who  can  put  the  most  stumblingblocks  in  each  otlier's 
way,  and  keep  ou;  clothes  longest  stained  with  blood.  If,  on  tho 
other  luiud,  you  should  take  the  patli  of  peace,  and  be  received  as 
brothers  to  tlie  Big  Knives,  with  their  friends,  the  French,  shoidd 
vou  then  listen  to  bad  birds  that  mav  be  Hying  through  the  hind, 
you  will  no  longer  deserve  to  be  counted  as  nien,  but  as  creatures 
Avith  two  touiriu's,  tiiat  ought  to  be  destroyed  without  listening 
to  anything  thpt  you  might  say.  As  I  am  convinced  you  never 
lirard  tlie  irtith  before,  1  do  not  wish  you  to  answer  before  you 
liave  taken  time  to  counsel.  We  will,  therefore,  part  this  even- 
ing: and  when  the  Great  Spirit  shall  bring  us  together  again, 
let  us  speak  and  think  like  men  with  but  one  heart  and  one 
tongue.'' 


170  Vincennes  Oceujyied  hy  the  British. 

Tlie  next  day  the  chiefs  returned,  and  before  the  Council 
fires,  which  weie  still  burning,  presented  Clark  the  saci'ed  Pipe, 
after  waving  it  toward  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  an  impressive 
way  of  calling  heaven  and  earth  to  witness  their  bond  of  peace 
and  alliance  with  the  Big  Knives.  News  of  these  successes 
were  now  sent  to  Gov.  Henry,  of  Virginia,  when,  at  a  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  an  act  was  passed  laying  out  a  county 
called  Illinois  county,  which  embraced  Vincennes,  as  well  as  the 
French  villages  of  the  Illinois.  Eut  before  suitable  officers 
could  arrive  on  the  ground  to  carry  the  act  into  effect,  Henry 
Ilaujilton,  the  British  Lieut.  Governor  of  Detroit,  came  down 
upon  Vincennes  with  30  British  regulars,  50  French  soldiers  en- 
listed at  Detroit,  and  400  Indian  \Varrior=. 

He  arrived  at  the  place  on  the  15th  of  December.  Soon  as  he 
was  within  hailing  distance  Capt.  Helm,  who  was  still  tiiere, 
cried  out  "Halt!  "  This  stopped  the  advance  of  Hamilton,  who 
in  turn  demanded  a  surrender  of  the  garrison.  "  On  wtat 
terms?"  demanded  the  tenacious  defender.  "The  honors  of 
war,"  was  the  reply.  The  fort  was  surrendered,  with  its  garrison 
of  one  soldier,  named  Henry,  and  one  officer.  Helm  himself!  * 

Capt.  Helm  was  held  as  prisoner,  and  the  French  inhabitants 
having  already  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States, 
were  disarmed.  The  news  of  this  untoward  event  soon  came  to 
Clark  at  Kaskaskia,  who  saw  at  once  his  peril.  A  British  army 
lay  in  the  path  of  his  retreat,  backed  by  a  confederacy  of  Indi- 
ans who  would  doubtless  turn  agiiinst  him  at  the  tirst  check  he 
might  receive. 

While  his  fertile  genius  was  on  the  rack  for  expedients  where- 
with to  sustain  himself,  a  Spanish  trader,  named  Francis  Vigo, 
came  to  his  quarters  with  news  from  Vincennes.  He  informed 
Clark  that  Hamilton,  being  under  no  apprehension  of  an  attack, 
had  sent  away  the  largest  portion  of  his  force  to  blockade  the 
Ohio,  and  cut  off  his  retreat,  and  with  the  first  opening  of  spring 
an  attack  was  to  be  made  on  the  Illinois  villages.  His  resolution 
was  immediately  taken.  Vinceinies,  the  head-center  of  these 
machimitions,  must  be  cajitured.  "If  I  don't  take  Hamilton, 
Hamilton  will  take  me,"  said  Clark. 

It  was  now  the  20th  of  January,  and  so  prompt  were  the 
French  inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia  to  assist  the  Americans,  that  by 
the  4th  of  February  everything  was  ready.  The  artillery  and 
stores  for  the  expedition  were  ])iaced  on  a  light  draught  vessel, 
under  command  of  one  of  his  officers  named  John  Hogers,  to 
be  transported  down  the  Mississ^ipjii,  and  up  the  Ohio  and  Wa- 
bash rivers,  to  the  destined  field  of  operation  against  the  post. 

•Butler's  Kentucky,  p.  80. 


Clarke  Marches  Against   Vincennes.  171 

The  next  day  Clark  himself,  with  175  men,  a  part  of  whom 
were  French  recruits,  took  up  their  march  across  tlie  country  for 
the  same  destination.  On  the  17th  they  reached  the  banks  of 
the  Wabash,  but  haw  to  gain  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river, 
where  the  fort  stood,  was  a  problem  more  difficult  of  solution  in 
the  mind  of  Clark,  than  how  to  take  the  fort  after  he  had  crossed, 
for  the  late  rains  had  flooded  the  broad  intervals  along  the  river, 
and  far  above  and  below  a  forest  rose  up  through  the  swollen 
waters,  mirroring  its  leafless  branches,  invertec"  mto  a  picturesque 


mirage. 


The  morning  gun  of  the  fort  was  heard  a?  the  perplexed  in- 
vaders took  up  their  tents,  after  a  night's  res  .  Rafts  were  now 
made,  and  a  few  trusty  Frenchmen  dispatched  across  the  mys- 
terious waste,  to  steal  boats  from  their  moorings,  outside  of 
the  unsuspecting  town.  This  hazardous  adventure  proved  a 
success  after  three  days,  during  which  time  the  army  of  Clark 
had  been  toiling  through  the  flooded  intervals  of  the  AVabash, 
along  the  shallowest  portions,  endeavoring  to  gain  its  immediate 
bank. 

On  the  21st  the  army  crossed  the  turbulent  stream  in  the 
boats  stolen  by  the  scouts,  and  now  its  labors  were  redoubled. 
The  ground  in  advance  was  now  reconnoitred  in  a  canoe,  and  the 
deptii  of  the  flood  sounded,  by  Clark  himself.  This  done,  he 
blackened  his  face  with  powder,  and  gave  the  war-whoop,  as  if  he 
liad  been  an  Indian,  and  marched  into  the  water  without  saying 
a  word.  His  comrades  followed,  under  the  inspiration  of  a  war 
Bong,  wliich  was  joined  in  along  the  whole  line.  Far  along  to 
the  left  a  ridge  rose  above  the  waste  of  waters,  where  some  open 
sheds  had  been  built  for  a  sugar  camp.  Here  they  spent  the 
night,  and  the  next  day  resumed  their  wateiy  march  towards  the 
fort.  For  three  days  they  had  fasted,  but  on  arriving  at  Vin- 
cennes the  Fi-ench  stealthily  brought  provisions  to  the  camp, 
and  the  siege  began. 

The  resistance  was  determined  for  awhile,  but  the  courage  and 
audacity  of  the  beseigers  knew  no  bounds,  and  atler  a  s])irited 
parley,  Hamilton  surrendered  the  fort,  with  its  garrison,  num- 
bering 79  men,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1779,  and  with  this- 
surrender  the  Northwest  passed  out  of  English  hands  into  the 
immediate  possession  of  the  Americans,  except  the  posts  which 
the  former  still  held  along  the  lakes.* 

•  NoTK. — Tlie  followinfr  from  Law's  History  of  Vincennes  is  copied  as  but  &. 
just  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  Gibault  and  Vipro:  Pierre  Gibault,  Parish  Priest 
at  VincenneN,  and  occasionally  performinsf  his  apotolic  duties  on  the  Missis- 
rippi.  was  at  Kaxkaskia  in  1778-9,  when  (Jen.  Clark  captured  that  place.  The 
eervicps  he  rendered  Clark  in  that  cnmpaiKn,  which  were  acknowMjred  by  a 
fMolution  of  the  lit^pislature  of  Virjirinia,  in  1780 — his  patriotism,  his  sacrifices. 


172  Stores  Amve  at   Vincennes. 

Here  the  Britisli  power  still  lingered.  On  the  27th  the  vessel 
arrived  with  the  stores,  its  hero-Commander  mortified  and  incon- 
solable that  he  had  not  been  able  to  reach  the  scene  of  operations 
in  time  to  ferry  Clark's  army  across  the  river,  and  bring-  to  his 
gallant  soldiers  tiie  provisions  they  so  much  needed  during  their 
three  days  of  fasting.  Among  the  prisoners  taken  at  Vincennes 
were  some  young  Frenchmen,  enlisted  by  Hamilton  at  Detroit. 
These  were  released,  on  their  taking  an  oath  that  they  would  not 
fiffht  again  ajjainst  the  ximericans  durinfy  the  war,  and  were  sent 
home,  with  abundant  supplies  to  serve  their  wants  ':*ii  the  way. 

his  courage  and  love  of  liberty,  require  of  me  a  fuller  notice  of  this  good  man 
and  pure  patriot,  than  I  have  been  enabled  to  give  in  the  published  address. 
Father  Gibault  was  a  Jesuit  missionary  to  the  Illinois  at  an  early  period,  and 
had  the  curacy  of  the  parish  at  Kaskaskia  when  Clark  took  possession  of  that 
post;  and  no  man  has  paid  a  more  sincere  tribute  to  the  services  rendered  by 
Father  Gibault  to  tlie  American  cause,  than  Clark  himself.  It  was  a  matter  of 
deep  importance,  especially  after  the  arrest  of  Rochblave,  the  commandant  at 
Kaskaskia,  for  Clark  to  conciliate,  if  possible,  the  ancient  inhabitants  residing 
at  Kaskaskia.  This  he  etfectually  did  through  the  agency  of  Father  Gibault. 
Through  his  influence,  not  only  were  the  French  population  of  Kaskaskia  in- 
duced to  supply  the  troops  with  provisions  and  other  necessaries,  but  to  receive 
the  depreciated  continental  paper  curiency  of  Virginia  at  par,  for  all  supplies 
thus  furnished,  Vigo  adding  his  guarantee  for  its  redemption,  and  receiving  it 
dollar  for  dollar,  not  only  from  the  soldiers,  but  from  the  inhabitants,  until  it 
became  entirely  worthless.  Father  Gibault,  but  especially  Vigo,  had  on  hand 
at  the  close  of  the  campaign,  more  than  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  this 
worthless  trash  (the  only  funds,  however,  which  Clark  had  in  his  military  chest.) 
and  not  one  dollar  of  which  was  ever  redeemed,  either  for  Vigo  or  Father  Gi- 
bault, who,  for  this  worthless  trash,  disposed  "  of  all  his  cattle,  and  the  tithes  of 
his  parishoners, "  in  order  to  sustain  Clark  and  his  troops,  without  which  aid 
they  must  have  surrendered,  surrounded  as  they  were,  by  the  Indian  allies  of 
the  British,  and  deprived  of  all  resources  but  those  furnished  by  the  French 
inhabitants,  through  the  persuasion  of  Vigo  and  Father  Gibault.  But  more 
than  this.  Through  the  influence  of  these  men,  when  Clark  left  Kaskaskia  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  Hamilton  and  his  men  at  post  Vincennes,  a  company 
of  fifty  young  Frenchmen  was  at  Kaskaskia,  who  joined  Clark's  troops,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Charlevoix,  who  shared  in  all  the  perils  aiul  honors  of 
that  glorious  campaign,  which  ended  in  the  capture  of  the  Post,  and  the  sur- 
render of  Hamilton,  an  event  more  important  in  its  consequences  than  any 
other  occurring  during  our  revolutionary  struggle. 

It  was  entirely  through  the  means  of  Father  Gibault  that  Hamilton  released 
Col.  Vigo,  when  sent  by  Clark  to  ascertain  the  true  situation  of  att'airs  at  Vin- 
cennes. lie  was  captured  by  the  J  Jians  and  taken  to  "  Fort  Sackville,"  where 
he  was  kept  a  prisoner  on  parole  for  many  weeks,  and  released,  entirely  by  the 
int^rlerence  of  Father  Gibault,  and  th<^  declaration  of  the  French  inhabitants 
at  Vincennes,  who,  with  their  priest  at  their  head,  after  service  on  the  Sabbath, 
marched  to  the  fort  and  informed  Hamilton  "they  would  refuse  all  supplies  to 
the  garrison  unless  Vigo  was  released."  Ot  that  release,  and  the  important 
eti'ect  of  Vigo's  information  to  Clark  on  his  return  to  Kaskaskia,  in  reference 
to  the  capture  of  the  post  by  Hamilton,  1  have  already  !:,poken.  Next  to  Clark 
and  \igt,  the  United  otat«s  are  indebt'?d  more  to  Father  (iil>ault  for  the  acces- 
sion of  the  States,  comprised  in  what  was  the  original  North-Westem  Terii- 
torv.  than  to  any  other  man." 

The  records  of  this  benevolent  man  are  still  presei-ved  in  the  church  at  Kas- 
kaskia.— [Author. 


iSt.  Joseph  Taken  hy  the  Sjpanish.  173 

On  their  arrival  at  Detroit,  they  did  good  service  to  the  Ameri- 
can cause  by  congratulatinof  themselves  that  their  oath  did  not 
bind  them  not  to  light  for  the  Americans,  if  a  chance  offered. 

A  large  convoy  of  stores  and  provisions  were  on  their  way 
from  Detroit  to  Yincennes  when  the  Americans  took  it,  which 
was  intercepted  on  the  way  by  a  detachment  under  command  of 
Q?x>t.  Helm,  who  by  the  late  capitulation  of  the  place  was  now 
released  from  the  bonds  of  a  war  prisoner,  and  again  an  oflScer 
in  Clark's  little  army.  The  amount  of  clothing,  provisions,  etc., 
was  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  all  tlie  wants  of  the  garrison, 
and  stinted  rations  and  rags  were  now  substituted  with  plen- 
teousness  and  comfortable  garments.  On  the  Tth  'of  March 
Clark  sent  Colonel  Hamilton,  with  eighteen  of  his  principal  sol- 
diers, to  Yirginia,  as  war  prisoners,  under  an  escort  of  25  men. 
Soon  after  their  arrival,  Hamilton  was  put  in  irons,  and  confined 
in  a  dungeon,  debarred  the  use  of  pen,  ink  and  paper,  and  ex- 
cluded from  all  communication  with  any  one  except  his  keeper. 
This  was  done  to  punish  him  for  having  offered  premiums  to  the 
Indians  for  white  scalps.  For  this  offense  he  was  ever  afterwards 
called  "  The  hair  buyer."  *  The  severity  of  his  sentence  was 
soon  afterwards  mitigated  by  order  of  continental  court-martial. 

Early  in  1779  a  war  broke  out  between  England  and  Spain, 
which  was  subsequently  followed  by  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  by  that  power,  though  with 
a  bad  grace,  as  if  dragged  into  the  reluctant  admission  by  the 
force  of  circinnstances.  Withal,  however,  the  hostile  attitude  of 
the  two  nations,  England  and  Spain,  was  not  without  its  influence 
in  preserving  the  conquests  achieved  by  Clark,  inasmuch  as  it 
seoure'1  Vae  alliance  of  the  then  Spanish  town  of  St.  Louis  to  the 
American  cause,  and  interposed  a  weighty  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
any  -  tempt  on  the  part  of  the  English  to  retake  the  Illinois 
country  or  Vincennes,  while  St.  Louis  was  their  ally. 

Instead  of  this  being  attempted,  St.  Louis  took  the  offensive 
herself  as  an  ally  of  America.  On  the  2nd  of  June,  1781,  Don 
Eugenie  Pierre,,  a  Spanish  officer,  marched  from  St.  Louis  with 
65  men  against  the  British  post  of  St.  Joseph.  The  place  Avas 
taken,  and  with  overreaching  ambition  the  commander  went 
through  the  forms  of  taking  posses'5ion  of  the  country  in  the 
name  of  Spain,  but  retired  shortly  afterwards  to  St.  Louis. 

By  virtue  of  fhis  insignificant  conquest,  Spain  subsequently 
attempted  to  establish  a  claim  to  the  country  intervening  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  her  own  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

•Jefferson's  Correspondence,  Voi.  I,  p.  455. 


174  St.  Louis  Attacked. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  the  "West,  the  armies 
of  England  and  America  were  brandishing  their  battle-blades  in 
each  other's  faces,  with  Btnbborn  courage  on  both  sides,  and  when 
fighting  ceased,  among  other  issues  settled,  the  conquests  of  the 
West  and  its  consequent  destiny,  were  not  forgotten. 

At  this  time  the  population  of  St.  Louis,  according  to  Hutchins,  was  800 
white  and  l')0  colored  people,  and  beinsr  a  Spanish  town,  it  was  legal  plunder 
for  the  English.  Accordingly,  an  exp  dition  wa*  set  on  foot  against  it  from  the 
British  post  of  Michilimackinac,  estimated  at  1,50U  men,  most  of  whom  were 
Indians. 

While  Clark  was  waiting  at  Easkaskia,  says  Stoddard  in  his  sketches, 
"The  commandant  of  Michilimackinac  in  1780  assembled  about  1.500  Indians 
and  140  English,  and  attempted  the  reduction  of  St.  Louis.  During  the  short  time 
they  were  before  that  town  60  of  the  inhabitants  were  killed,  and  30  taken 
prisoners.  Fortunately,  Gen.  Clark  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Micsissippi 
with  a  considerable  force.  On  his  appearance  at  8t.  Louis  with  a  strong  detach- 
ment, the  Indians  weie  amazed.  They  had  no  disposition  to  quarrel  with  any 
other  than  the  Lonisianians,  and  charged  the  British  with  deception.  In  fine, 
as  the  jealousy  of  the  Indians  was  excited,  the  English  trembled  for  their  safety, 
and  ?=ecretly  abandoned  their  auxilaries  and  made  the  best  of  their  way  into 
Canada.  The  Indians  then  retired  to  their  homes  in  peace.  This  expedition, 
as  appears,  was  not  sanctioned  by  the  English  court,  and  the  private  pro^jert^ 
of  the  commandant  was  seized  to  pay  the  expenses  of  ifci  most  likely  because  ifc 
proved  unfortunate." 

This  account  has  been  quoted  by  able  historians,  and  is  doubtless  correct,  ex- 
Cf'pt  as  to  the  assistance  credited  to  Gen.  Clark  as  offering  to  help  defend  the 
town.  This  was  impossible,  as  he  had  left  the  country  previous  to  that  time, 
but,  without  doubt,  the  respect  with  which  his  gallant  conduct  had  inspired  the 
Indians  of  the  immediate  country  around  had  its  effect  on  the  Indian  force  from 
Michilimackinac,  and,  besides  saving  St.  Louis,  prevented  them  from  attacking 
the  towns  of  Southern  Illinois,  which  then  were  in  a  hostile  attitude  to  British 
rule,  either  as  French  or  American  towns,  both  of  which  countries  were  at  war 
with  England.  • 

Auguste  Chouteau  says  that  Clark  rendered  the  town  no  assistance.  This 
eettles  the  point  as  to  the  question,  for  he  was  one  of  the  original  settlers  un- 
der Laclede's  grant,  and  must  have  been  an  eyo-witness.  The  shameful  con- 
duct of  liPyba,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  at  the  time,  was  an  excess  of  treachery 
teldom  equalled.  Previous  to  the  attack  he  sent  all  the  powder  away,  but  for- 
tunately a  trader  had  eight  barrels  of  this  precious  specific,  which  the  defenders 
rppropriated  for  the  occasion.  Not  content  with  this  dereliction,  he  spiked 
kome  of  the  c  mnon  of  the  defenders;  but  despite  these  obstacle-*,  the  courageous 
soldiers  stood  to  their  places.' and  beat  back  their  numerous  assailants  with  a 
courage  seldom  equalled.  The  storm  of  iiuligna^'on  which  the  traitor  Leyba 
mot  after  the  battle,  was  too  much  for  him  to  live  under,  and  he  sickened  and 
died  shortly  afterwards,  tradition  says  from  poison  administered  by  his  own 
■hand.  This  account  is  taken  from  Stoddard,  HiUl,  Martin,  and  the  Western 
Annals,  neither  of  which  appear  to  have  details  as  fall  as  could  be  desired,  e«- 
j^ecially  as  it  ia  the  only  siege  or  battle  that  ever  occurred  at  SSt.  Louis. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Moravian  Settlements  on  the  Jfuskingnm — Premonitions  of 
the  American  Revolution — British  Emissaries  Among  the 
Indians — Forls  Mcintosh  and  Laurens  Built — Dcsjperate 
Attach  on  the  Latter — The  Siege  Raised  by  Hunger — The 
Moravians  Remooed — Mary  Heckwelder' s  Account — Horri- 
hle  Slaughter  of  the  Exiles — Crawford's  Expedition  Against 
Sandusky — The  Enemy  Encountered — Crawford  Taken 
Prisoner — His  Awful  Death  hy  Fire — Peace — Complex  Di- 
plomacy at  the  Treaty  of  Paris — Firmness  of  Jay  Tri- 
umphant. 

The  few  sparse  settlements  in  Kentucky  already  made,  still 
maintained  their  ground,  although  constantly  menaced  by  Indians 
on  the  war- path,  while  the  Alleghanies  interposed  serious  bar- 
riers between  them  and  any  succor  from  the  parent  State  in  case 
of  an  attack. 

No  attempt  had  yet  been  made  at  settlement  on  w^hat  might 
with  propriety  then  have  been  called  the  Indian  side  of  the 
Oliio,  except  the  Moravian  settlements.     These  had  been  in  pro- 

fress  on  the  Muskingum  river  since  1762.  Christian  Frederic 
'est  (the  same  who  in  1758  executed  the  heroic  mission  to  Fort 
Pitt,)  and  his  co-worker,  John  Heckwelder,  at  that  time  set  up  a 
tabernacle  there  for  worship.  The  missionary  spirit  was  the  in- 
centive to  their  enterprise,  but  to  facilitate  their  work  in  this  di- 
rection, they  purchased  small  parcels  of  land  of  the  Indians,  made 
an  opening  in  the  forest,  planted  lields  of  corn,  and  soon  they 
were  surrounded  with  ~»lenty.  The  celebrated  David  Ziesburger 
joined  them  in  a  few  years,  and  the  towno  of  Shoenbrun,  Gnad- 
enhutten  and  Salem,  were  built  within  an  area  of  ten  miles,  near 
the  present  site  of  New  Philadelphia,  in  Tuscarawas  county, 
Ohio. 

This  could  not  be  called  a  vfhito  settlement,  yet  it  repre- 
sented Christian  civilization,  as  developed  by  the  teachings  of  tlie 
Moravian  missionaries,  whose  heroic  faith  had  been  inherited 
from  the  martyr  IIuss.  Pince  that  remote  period  this  remarka- 
ble people  had  been  uibcipiined  by  a  Bchool  of  three  centuries  of 


176  Fort  Mcintosh  Built. 

persecution,  durins:  which  time  their  courage  had  becojne  the 
admiration  of  the  Protestant  world.  Thej  had  ever  been  in  its 
van  breaking  up  the  fallen  ground,  ready  to  be  tilled  by  more 
effeminate  Christians. 

Their  attempts  on  the  Muskingum  had  thus  far  been  a  success, 
but  unhappily  for  them  they  still  held  to  the  doctrines  of  non- 
resistance,  with  unshaken  faith,  that  God's  Providence  would 
safely  lead  them  through  the  dangers  that  surrounded  them. 

However  plausible  or  practicable  such  a  theory  might  be  in 
times  of  peace,  it  became  a  fatal  illusion  when  the  fires  of  revo- 
lution kindled  along  the  Atlantic  should  shake  the  border  into 
fury,  as  was  soon  to  be  the  case.  When  the  centre  is  disturbed, 
how  much  more  is  the  circumference  agitated. 

The  borders  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  were  now  daily  be- 
coming more  exposed  to  dangers,  as  the  British  emissaries  among 
the  Indians  excited  them  to  take  the  war-path,  and  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  passed  a  resolution  to  send  a  force  into  the  inte- 
rior, with  a  view  of  taking  Detroit,  the  western  supply  depot, 
where  the  Indians  obtained  the  means  wherewith  to  keep  up  the 
war. 

In  May,  1778,  while  the  expedition  of  Clark  was  about  starting 
on  its  mission,  Brigadier  General  Lachlin  Mcintosh,  of  the  Con- 
tinental Army,  was  placed  in  command  of  the  Western  Depart- 
ment, with  his  head  quarters  at  Ft.  Pitt.  The  following  October, 
at  the  head  of  a  small  force  of  regulars  and  militia,  he  descended 
the  Ohio  and  built  a  fort  thirty  miles  below  Fort  Pitt,  which 
was  named  Fort  Molntosh.  This  was  the  first  stockade  ever  built 
by  Americans  on  the  Northern  side  of  the  Ohio. 

For  prudential  reasons,  probably  for  the  want  of  means,  the 
Continental  Congress  now  instructed  him  to  abandon  the  original 
design  against  Detroit,  but  in  lieu  thereof,  to  make  an  incursion 
into  the  interior  for  the  purpose  of  overawing  the  Indians,  With 
this  intent  he  took  up  his  march  at  the  head  of  1,000  men,  intend- 
ing to  attack  Sandusky,  but  on  reaching  the  Muskingum  he 
encamped,  and  concluded  to  defer  the  attack  against  the  objec- 
tive point  till  the  coming  spring.  Here  he  built  Fort  Laurens, 
so  named  in  honor  of  the  President  of  the  Continental  Con- 
gress. He  left  Colonel  John  Gibson  in  command  of  the  post 
with  150  men,  and  returned  with  the  main  body  to  Fort  Pitt. 

All  these  movements  were  reported  to  the  English  commander 
at  Detroit,  who,  as  might  be  expected,  at  once  laid  his  plans  to 
capture  the  audacious  Americans,  who  had  dared  to  make  a 
stand  in  the  heart  of  the  country. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Francis  Yigo,  the  Spanish  trader 
of  St.  Louis,  who  arrived  at  Kaskaskia  in  January,  brought 
information  to  Clark  that  Hamilton  had  weakened  his  forces  bv 


Siege  of  Fort  Laurent.  1 77 

Bending  away  large  detachments  against  the  frontiers,  and  that 
Clark,  taking  advantage  oftliis  incautious  movement,  had  marched 
against  Vincennes  and  taken  it.  It  may  therefore  be  inferred  that 
Fort  Laurens  was  the  decoy  duck  which  gave  Vincennes  to  the 
Americans. 

Late  in  January,  1779,  tlie  threatened  attack  was  made  on  the 
fort,  and  kept  up  till  March  with  desperate  resolution.  The 
garrison  successfully  resisted  every  assault  of  tlieir  besiegers, 
though  they  environed  the  post  by  means  of  their  numbers,  and 
gave  them  no  resjjite  either  by  night  or  day. 

Starvation  soon  began  to  threaten  them,  but,  happily  for  the 
besieged,  the  besiegers  were  in  a  similar  predicament,  and  the 
sanguinary  contest  now  became  a  rivalship,  not  of  courage  and 
muscle  only,  but  a  trial  of  endurance  under  the  pangs  of  hunger. 
While  the  enemy  were  thns  beset  with  perplexity,  how  to  obtain 
provisions  till  they  could  press  the  siege  to  a  successful  issue  by 
starving  out  the  garrison,  while  they  themselves  were  gaunt  with 
hunger,  they  proposed  to  Gibson,  the  commandei,  to  raise  the 
siege  if  he  would  give  them  a  barrel  of  flour.  The  offer  was 
promptly  accepted,  as  a  device  to  conceal  the  desperate  straits  to 
which  the  garrison  was  reduced.  The  flour  was  sent  outside  the 
palisade,  and  some  meat  with  it,  which  the  hungry  Indians  and 
their  companions  devoured  like  a  pack  of  wolves,  and  vanished 
in  the  forest,  taking  their  course  for  Detroit. 

The  last  savage  yelp  soon  died  away  with  the  retreating  foe, 
and  silence  took  the  place  of  the  bedlam  of  war-whoops  that  had 
echoed  about  the  place  for  two  months.  A  runner  skilled  in 
woodcraft  was  now  selected  to  hasten  to  Fort  Mcintosh  with  all 
possible  dispatch,  and  obtain  supplies.  With  the  shyness  of  a 
lox  venturing  from  his  lair,  the  bold  ranger  left  the  fort  and 
safely  reached  his  destination,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  through 
an  unbroken  wilderness,  when  a  band  of  scouts  were  immedi- 
ately sent  with  provisions  for  the  relief  of  the  hungry  garrison, 
in  their  frontier  hermitage.  Here  they  remained  till  the  fol- 
lowing August,  when  the  fort  was  evacuated. 

Fort  Mcintosh  was  evacuated  soon  afterwards,  which  left  no 
representation  of  American  interests  between  Vincennes  and 
Fort  Pitt.  With  the  exception  of  a  part  of  the  Delawares,  all 
the  Indians  of  the  country  now  became  active  allies  of  the  Eng- 
lish. Tlie  Moravians,  or  praying  Indians,  as  they  were  some- 
times called,  were,  in  accordance  with  their  faith,  neutral. 

Their  villages  laid  in  the  war-path  of  their  savage  brothers, 
and  when  a  hostile  war  party  were  returning  from  a  successful 
incursion  into  the  white,  settlements,  dragging  tlieir  wretched 
captives  into  their  distant  lodges  in  the  wilderness,  they  often 
quartered  on  these  apostate  savages,  who  durst  not  refuse  them 


1T8  The  Moravian  Converts. 

shelter.  On  these  occasions  tlie  griefs  of  the  captives  were  al- 
ways mitigated  as  far  as  possible  by  acts  of  kindness  from  their 
hosts,  if  such  a  name  mav  be  apj)lied  to  the  dispenser  of  an  en- 
forced hospitality. 

Colonel  Depnyster  tlicn  commanded  in  Detroit  as  the 
guccessor  of  Hamilton,  and  seeing  the  danger  of  these  people,  he 
mercifully  interj^osed  between  them  and  the  subtile  liostility  by 
which  they  were  victimized  by  their  neutrality  from  both  sides, 
and  ordei-ed  their  removal  to  the  neighborhood  of  Sandusky. 
This  decree  was  enforced  upon  the  unwilling  Moravians  by  two 
hundred  Wyandottes  under  the  command  of  British  officers. 
Their  crops  Acre  left  standing  in  the  field,  ready  for  the  harvest, 
when  they  were  forced  away  from  their  homes,  to  find  new  sheU 
ter  and  a  precarious  subsistence  for  the  coming  winter  among 
their  unfriendly  brethren,  who  were  only  restrained  from  open 
hostility  against  them  by  the  British  officers. 

Among  the  evil  'geniuses  of  the  forest  at  that  time,  was  Simon 
Girty,  a  native  of  Western  Pennsylvania.  When  a  boy  he  had  been 
taken  captive  by  the  Indians,  and  adopted  into  the  Seneca  tribe. 
Among  tliem  he  had  won  distinction  as  a  forest  ranger,  and 
would  gladly  have  spent  his  life  with  them,  but  when  Bouquet 
made  his  successful  expedition  to  the  Muskingum,  Girty,  with 
other  captives,  was  returned  to  civilization.  The  next  year  he 
rose  to  the  rank  of  a  commissioned  officer  in  the  Pennsylvania 
militia,  but  two  years  later  deserted  to  the  British,  and  joined  the 
hostile  Indians  of  the  forest  with  Elliot,*  a  tory  of  equal  notorie- 
ty. Both  of  these  became  prominent  leaders  among  the  savages, 
Girty  rivaling  them  in  i'erocity.  His  spite  against  the  Moravian 
converts  was  unmeasured.  While  these  unhappy  exiles  were  be- 
ing conducted  from  their  homes  on  the  Muskingum  to  Sandusky, 
some  care  had  been  taken  to  mitigate  their  woes,  which  so  en- 
raged Girty  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  could  be  restrained 
from  assaulting  them  with  a  tomahawk   after  their  arrival.-)* 

'Commodore  Elliot  of  the  U.  S.  Navy  was  his  nephew. 

fTlie  following  account  of  the  affair  is  copied  from  the  American  Pioneer, 
"Vol.  II,  pp.  224  and  225,  as  a  contribution  to  that  valuable  work  by  Mary  Heck- 
wclder,  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Moravian  missionary  and  historian.  She 
■was  the  first  white  chiU  born  in  Ohio. 

''Bethlehem,  Pa.,  Fehrtiary  24<7t,  1843. 
"J.  S.  Williams,  Esq. 

''Dear  Sir: — Yours  of  the  31st  ult.,  to  Mr.  Kumnien,  post  master  at  this 
place,  has  been  handed  to  me.  I  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of  making  much 
use  of  my  pen  for  a  number  of  yeai-s ;  I  will,  however,  at  your  request,  endeavor 
to  give  you  a  short  account  of  the  first  four  years  of  my  life,  which  were  all  I 
spent  among  the  Indians,  having  since  lived  m  Bethlehem  nearly  all  the  time. 
My  acquaintance  or  knowledge  of  them  and  their  history,  is  chiefly  from  books, 
and  what  1  heard  from  my  father  and  other  m.issioriaries. 

"  I  was  bom  April  16th,  1781,  in  Salem,  one  of  the  Moravian  Indian  towns, 
on  the  Muskingum  river,  State  of  Ohio.    Soon  after  my  birth,  times  becomtug 


The  Victims  Entrapped,  ITD 

Here  tliey  remained  till  February,  when  permission  was  given 
to  a  part' of  them  to  return  to  their  homes  on  the  Muskingum,  to 
harvest  their  corn,  wliich  was  still  standing. 

While  engaged  in  this  labor  on  the  6th  of  March,  a  company 
of  borderers  came  to  tlieni  in  an  apparently  friendly  spirit,  and 
proposed  to  tliem  to  remove  to  Pittsburg  for  s:rfety,  and  with  oily 
words  enticed  them  to  give  up  their  arms  aiiu  go  into  two  houses 
to  remain  for  tlie  night.  This  done,  Williaiiison,  the  leader  of 
the  band,  to(»k  counsel  with  his  comrades  as  to  the  fate  of  the  en- 
trapped victims. 

AH  in  favor  of  sparing  their  lives  were  ordered  to  step  forward. 

■very  troublesome,  the  settlements  were  often  in  danger  from  war  parties,  and 
from  an  encampment  of  warriors  near  GnaHenhutten;  and  finally,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  September  of  the  same  year,  we  were  all  made  prisoners.  First,  four 
of  the  raisfiionaries  were  seized  by  a  party  of  Huron  warriors,  and  declared 
prisoners  of  war;  they  were  then  led  into  the  camp  of  the  Delawares,  where 
the  death-song  was  sung  over  them.  Soon  after  they  had  secured  them,  a  num- 
ber of  warriors  marched  off  for  Salem  and  Shoenbrun.  About  thirty  savagr« 
arrived  at  the  former  place  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  and  broke  open  the  mis- 
Bion  house.  Here  they  took  my  mother  and  myself  prisoners,  and  having  led 
her  into  the  street  and  placed  guards  over  her,  they  plundered  the  house  of  every- 
thing they  could  take  with  them  and  destroyed  what  was  left.  Then  going  to 
take  my  mother  along  with  them,  the  savages  were  prevailed  upon,  through 
the  intercession  of  the  Indian  females,  to  let  her  remain  at  Salem  till  the  next 
morning — the  night  being  dark  and  rainy  and  almost  impossible  for  her  t;o  travel 
FO  far — they  at  last  consented  on  condition  that  she  should  be  brought  into  the 
camp  the  next  morning,  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  she  was  safely  con- 
ductiul  by  our  Indians  to  Gnadenhutten. 

"  After  experiencing  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  savages  for  sometime,  they 
were  set  at  liberty  again ;  but  were  obliged  to  leave  their  flourishing  settlements, 
and  forced  to  march  through  a  dreary  wilderness  to  Upper  Sandusky.  We 
went  liy  land  through  Goshachguenk  to  the  Walholding,  and  then  partly  by 
water  and  partly  along  the  banks  of  the  river,  to  Sandusky  creek.  All  the  way 
1  was  carried  by  an  Indian  woman,  carefully  wrapped  in  a  blanket,  on  her  back. 
Our  journey  was  exceedingly  tedious  and  dangerous;  some  of  the  canoes  sunk, 
and  those  that  were  in  them  lost  all  their  provisions  and  everything  they  had 
saved .  Those  that  went  by  land  drove  the  cattle,  a  pretty  large  herd.  The 
savages  now  drove  us  along,  the  missionaries  with  thei'  tamilies  usually  in  the 
midst,  surrounded  by  their  Indian  converts.  The  road.i  were  exceedingly  bad, 
leading  through  a  continuation  of  swamps. 

"Having  arrived  at  Upper  Sandusky,  they  built  small  hut'^  of  logs  and  bark 
to  screen  them  from  the  cold,  having  neither  beds  nor  blankets,  and  being 
reduced  to  the  greatest  poverty  and  want;  for  the  savages  had  by  degrees  stolen 
everything  both  from  missionaries  and  Indians,  on  the  journey.  We  lived  here 
extremely  poor,  oftentimes  very  little  or  nothing  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  hun- 
ger; and  the  poorest  of  the  Indians  were  obliged  to  live  upon  their  dead  cattle, 
which  died  for  want  of  pasture. 

"  After  livins  in  this  dreary  wilderness,  in  danger,  poverty,  and  distress  of  all 
sorts,  a  written  order  arrived  in  March,  1782,  sent  by  the  governor  to  the  half 
king  of  the  Hurons  and  to  an  English  officer  in  his  company,  to  bring  all  the 
missionaries  and  their  families  to  Detroit,  but  with  a  strict  order  not  to  plunder 
nor  abuse  them  in  the  least." 

"  Respectfully  yours, 

"Mary  Heckevteldku." 


180  Massacre  of  The  Morrvians. 

Of  the  90  men  who  composed  the  party,  only  18  stepped  for- 
ward, leaving  72  in  favor  of  killing  them. 

This  decision  was  immediately  made  known  to  the  nnhappj 
victims,  when  the  nnexpected  decree  was  replied  to  witli  earnest 
entreaties  tliat  their  lives  might  be  spared,  but  lamentations  and 
supplications  were  unavailing  to  the  iron-liearted  scouts.  They 
however,  postponed  tlie  execution  of  the  sentence  till  morni!ig,  to 
give  them  time  to  prepare  for  death  in  their  accustomed  spirit  of 
devotion.  The  night  was  spent  by  the  victims  in  prayer  and 
singing,  while  their  executioners  stood  guard  outside  to  prevent 
escape.  In  the  morning  all  was  ready  on  both  side;'.  The  Mora- 
vians were  tranquil,  and  their  executioners  unrelenting,  and  the 
work  began. 

Tlirough  apertures  in  the  walls  of  the  building  the  muzzles 
of  the  guns  were  pointed,  and  the  shooting  was  continued  till 
the  last  faint  groans  of  the  victims  had  died  away  in  silence,  and 
all  were  prostrated,  as  was  supposed,  into  a  pile  of  lifeless  corpses. 
But  beneath  the  poiiderous  weight  of  dead  bodies  a  youth  of  six- 
teen managed  to  tind  his  way  through  an  aperture  in  the  floor, 
and  escaped  thence  into  the  woods.  Another  boy  also  escaped 
after  being  scalped,  and  both  lived  to  tell  tlie  tale  of  woe  which 
had  whelmed  9i  of  their  countrymen  in  death. 

To  the  credit  of  our  government  be  it  said,  that  Williamson's 
band  were  not  in  the  continental  service,  and  that  their  bloody 
=rork  was  er  ocrated  throughout  tlie  country. 

Border  life,  in  those  days,  furnishes  inexhaustible  material  for 
romancers  and  poets,  as  well  as  historians,  for  extremes  in  the 
bent  of  the  human  mind  were  brought  into  contact  there,  untram- 
meled  by  the  restraints  of  law,  or  even  of  society,  and  if  exam- 
ples of  man's  noblest  nature  were  nurtured  into  being  by  the 
severe  discipline  of  frontier  privations,  it  is  not  strange  that  cor- 
responding extremes  of  evil  purposes  should  also  be  brought  to 
the  surface  by  the  extremities  resorted  to  to  accomplish  required 
results. 

The  war  was  contested  with  a  stubborn  courage  on  the  part  of 
the  English,  more  for  what  the  country  was  destined  to  be  than 
for  what  it  then  was,  and  no  means  were  left  untried  to  secure  the 
inheritance  of  nature  which  opened  before  their  pro])hetic  vision 
to  the  West.  This  disposition  was  contagious,  and  the  rougi)est 
side  of  border  life  gathered  force  like  a  tornado  when  the  inno- 
cent Moravians  were  murdered. 

Here  were  untneasured  forests  bespangled  by  a  thousand 
streams,  and  further  beyond  them  oceans  of  wild  prairie,  all  wait- 
ii'g  the  magic  touch  of  civilization  to  re-produce  the  wonders  of 
Europe  on  an  improved  plan.  To  accomplish  this,  was  worthy 
the  ambition  of  the  English,  who  with  characteristic  confidence 


Expeditions  to  Take  Sandtisky.  181 

in  themselves  thought  they  could  do  it  better  than  their  rebel- 
lious children.  The  ultimate  fate  of  the  Indians  was  not  consid- 
ered. That  would  take  care  of  itself.  Meantime,  if  their  irre- 
pressible dash,  or  even  their  ferocity  could  be  extemporized  into 
use  in  order  to  bring  about  the  desired  result,  the  end  justified 
the  means  in  their  estimation,  thougli  it  brought  desolation  and 
cruel  death  to  the  borders  of  American  settlements. 

During  the  revolution  the  bordei'ei's  had  been  wrought  up  to 
fiuch  a  pitch  of  excitement,  that  long  after  the  army  of  Cornwal- 
liri  had  surrendered,  and  fighting  had  ceased  between  tlie  Ameri- 
can and  British  armies,  the  war  was  continued  with  unremitting 
severity  on  the  frontiers. 

Throughout  the  Western  portions  of  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia, every  man,  and  even  every  bo}^  could  handle  a  rifle  with  a 
<lexterity  seldom  equaled  by  the  trained  soldiers  of  regular  armies. 
Mdst  of  the  British  having  been  driven  from  the  field  after  the 
t^urrender  of  Cornwallis,  the  success  of  the  revolution  was  no 
longer  doubted,  and  the  fertile  fields  across  the  Ohio,  as  future 
liomes,  now  began  to  attract  attention. 

Under  such  auspices  an  expedition  was  planned  in  May,  1782, 
to  march  against  Sandusky,  take  the  place  and  seize  upon  the 
country.  The  enterprise  was  a  private  one,  though  it  was  ap- 
proved by  General  Irvine,  who  then  lieJd  command  of  Fort  Pitt. 
Each  soldier  furnished  his  own  horse  and  equipments  at  his  own 
expense,  with  no  expectations  of  any  other  pay  than  what  might 
result  from  the  success  of  the  adventure.  The  partly  numbered 
480,  among  whom  were  most  of  the  men  who  had  partaken  in 
the  massacre  of  the  Moravians  a  few  weeks  before. 

They  elected  their  ofticers  by  ballot,  and  their  choice  fell  upon 
William  Crawford,  a  man  who  had  been  a  companion  of  the 
youthful  A'Tashington,  when  he  was  only  a  backwoods  surveyor, 
unmindful  of  his  future  destiny. 

Col.  David  Williamson  was  second  in  command,  the  same  who 
had  led  the  murderous  expedition  against  the  Moravians,  from 
which  it  would  appear  that  tiie  consciences  of  the  raiders  was  not 
sensitive  as  to  the  means  to  be  used  whereby  the  Indians  should 
be  conquered  into  submission. 

Everything  being  in  readiness,  on  the  25tii  of  May  the  com- 
pany dashed  into  the  wilderness,  etch  man  well  mounted  and 
laden  with  twenty  days'  provisions.  On  the  fourth  day  they 
reached  Gnadenhutten,  the  scene  of  the  late  Moravian  massacre. 
Here  the  bodies  of  the  victims,  men,  women  and  children,  laid 
without  burial,  in  a  horrible  pile  of  decav,  mingled  with  the  ashes 
ot  the  building  which  was  burnt  over  their  lifeless  remains.  The 
fields  of  corn  were  standing,  with  no  one  left  to  harvest  them, 
and  att()rded  ample  provender  for  their  horses. 


182  The  Retreat. 

Passing  on  in  a  westerly  course,  they  soon  came  to  the  San- 
dusky plains,  where  Wyandotte  Co.  now  is.  Here  they  expected 
to  find  the  Wyandottes  in  force,  but  in  this  they  were  mistaken. 
A  voiceless  solitude  of  prairie  hazel  brush  and  oak  openings  ex-' 
tended  far  and  wide.*  Not  an  Indian  or  Britisher  was  seen,  but 
slyly  as  the  Thugs  of  India,  the  stealtliy  foe  had  dogged  their 
trail,  crawling  around  their  camp  at  night,  and  fleet-footed  mes- 
sengers had  reported  their  numbers,  and  the  course  they  were 
taking  ever  since  they  had  crossed  the  Muskingum. 

Near  the  present  site  of  Upper  Sandusky  the  enemy  was  en  - 
countered,  among  whom  was  the  notorious  Simon  Girty  and  El- 
liot. Crawford  immediately  took  a  sheltered  position  in  a  grove, 
and  succeeded  in  maintaining  the  supremacy  during  the  action. 
The  next  day  the  fight  was  renewed,  but  Crawford  still  kept  the 
savages  at  a  respectful  distance  by  means  of  his  sharp-shooters. 
The  third  day  the  Indians  were  reinforced  by  a  company  of  Brit- 
ish cavalry  from  Detroit.  All  hope  of  final  victory  was  now 
abandoned,  and  the  retreat  was  commenced  at  nine  o'clock  the 
succeeding  evening.  By  skillful  skirmishing  the  Americans  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  outside  the  enemy's  lines,  and  making  a  brief 
halt,  to  their  dismay  their  commander  was  missing. 

But  there  was  no  time  to  look  for  him,  for  the  victorious 
enemy  were  pressing  upon  their  rear  in  overwhelming  numbers, 
and  now  while  the  defeated  raiders  are  flying  homewai*d  with  tlu" 
exultant  foj  in  hot  pt.rsuit,  the  fate  of  Crawford  will  be  told. 

During  the  bewilderment  of  the  night  retreat  Crawford  had 
been  cut  ott"  from  the  main  body  and  captured,  together  witli 
several  others,  among  wu  >m  was  Dr.  Knight.  Most  of  the  cap- 
tives were  tomahawked  with  little  ceremony,  but  Crawford,  the 
big  Captain,  as  the  Indians  called  him  in  derision,  was  reservci 
for  an  especial  object  on  Avhom  to  satiate  their  vengeance.  When 
brought  to  the  place  of  execution,  among  the  red  demons  who 
were  assembled  to  take  part  in  the  revelry,  was  Simon  Girty. 

Nine  years  before,  during  his  residence  near  Pittsburg,  he  had 
lived  in  the  same  neighborhood  with  Crawford,  and  the  unhappy 
victim  seeing  him,  a  faint  ray  of  hope  flashed  into  his  frozen 
heart  as  he  was  stripped  naked  and  tied  to  the  fatal  stake. 

TJiere  were  the  faggots,  and  vengeful  hands  to  apply  them, 
and  there  was  Girty,  his  former  neighbor,  who  had  otten  sat  at 
his  table  in  the  free  and  easy  companionship  peculiar  to  frontier 
men  and  hunters,  but  the  face  of  the  white  savage  was  cold  and 
forbidding.  " Do  they  intend  to  burn  me?"  inquired  Crawford 
of  Girty.  "Yes,"  was  the  reply.  "I  will  take  it  all  ])atiently," 
Baid  the  stoical  Colonel,  and  the  work  began. 

*ThiB  wa.s  the  condition  of  W\  andott<^  county  as  lato  as  IX'.i),  at  which  time 
the  writer  passed  through  it  soon  after  the  removal  of  the  Indians. 


Crawford  Dies  hy  Fire.  183 

His  tormenters,  with  a  keen  discrimination,  economized  the 
vital  spark  in  their  victim  to  the  longest  span,  in  order  to  make 
the  most  of  him.  For  three  hours  he  continued  to  breathe,  while 
the  whole  surface  of  his  body  had  been  punctured  with  the  burn- 
ing ends  of  hickory  sticks. 

At  last  tli<3  voice  of  jjrayer  was  heard  in  low  but  audible  words. 
A  hideous  squaw  now,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  bring  fresh  tor- 
tures to  the  dying  man,  emptied  a  shovel  of  coals  on  his  back  as 
he  laid  prostrate,  face  downwards,  but  insensibility  had  come  to 
his  relief,  and  he  manifested  no  sign  of  pain.  Soon  afterwards 
he  arose  to  his  feet,  and  walked  ? round  the  post  to  which  he  had 
been  tied,  and  again  laid  down  for  the  last  time.  Dr.  Ivniglit 
was  now  taken  away,  and  nothing  more  was  known  of  his  last 
moments,  except  what  was  gathered  from  those  who  took  part  in 
the  fiendish  work. 

Dr.  Knight  was  treated  only  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  ulti- 
mately was  returned  to  his  home. 

According  to  Heckwelder,  the  Moravian  historian  of  those 
times,  Crawford  was  tortured  in  revenge  for  the  barbarous  work 
of  Williamson's  men  a  few  weeks  before,  on  which  occasion  for- 
ty-two women  and  children  had  shared  the  fate  of  the  men  in  the 
indiscriminate  butchery. 

Perkins,  author  of  the  "Western  Annals,  says  that  Crawford's 
command  started  into  the  forests  with  the  avowed  j>urpose  of 
killing  every  red  man,  woman  or  child,  who  came  within  the 
reach  of  their  rifles.  As  much  may  be  inferred  from  some  of  the 
cotemporary  relations.  ]3ut  C,  W.  Butterfield,  who  has  lately 
;publislied  a  complete  history  of  the  wliole  expedition,  taken  from 
documents,  manuscripts  and  tradition,  has  discredited  the  defamers 
of  the  expeditionists,  and  exonerates  Crawford,  at  least,  from  any 
complicity  in  the  slaughter  of  Gnadenhutten.  Here  it  is  proper 
to  say,  however,  that  the  horrors  of  Gnadenhutten  served  to 
soften  the  hearts  of  the  hostile  Indians  towards  the  Christian  In- 
dians, and  even  the  impervious  Girty  was  no  longer  their  enemy. 
These  conditions  would  go  to  strengthen  the  theory,  that  Craw- 
ford's awful  fate  was  the  result  of  the  Moravian  massacn,  al- 
though he  was  innocent  of  anv  marderuus  design  against  the  Indi- 
ans, as  Mr.  Butterfield,  nis  charitable  biographer,  has  indicated, 

"  My  country,  right  or  wrong,"  is  the  best  apology  the  histori- 
an can  make  for  the  style  of  warfare  which  had  been  waged 
against  the  Indians  ever  since  177-i,  when  Cornstock  and  Logan 
raised  the  tomaliawk  in  revenge  for  the  unprovoked  slaughters  of 
Cresap,  Greathouse,  and  others.  And  thus  it  was,  that  the  fron- 
tiers of  the  colonies  had  been  lashed  into  fury  by  the  war,  and 
could  only  be  lulled  into  quiet  by  a  permanent  peace  with  Eng- 
land. 


184  ■    Peace  Ifegotiatiov^. 

After  fighting  had  ceased,  and  negotiations  were  opened  for 
peace,  the  first  point  to  be  settled  was,  on  what  terms  the  Amer- 
icans should  treat,  which,  in  fact,  in  ;olved  the  chief  point  at 
if  sue.  Nobody  saw  this  in  a  clearer  light  than  the  Americ.in 
Commissioners  themselves.  Jay,  Adams,  Franklin  and  Laurens, 
with  a  tenacity  worthy  tlisir  high  calling,  refused  to  treat  in  any 
capacity,  except  as  a  sovereign  and  ii  ''■^pendent  nation.  This 
was  reluctantl}' conceded  by  England,  ana  three  other  points  only 
remained  to  be  settled:  The  American  rigiits  to  the  fisheries  of 
Newfoundland;  their  liability  to  indemnify  tories  for  losses 
during  the  war;  and  the  last  and  most  important  of  the  three,  the 
Western  limits  of  the  United  States, 

The  fishery  question  was  disposed  of  by  granting  the  Ameri- 
cans the  right  to  fish  where  they  })leased.  Next,  as  to  indemni- 
fying tories  for  the  loss  of  their  property,  either  by  the  ravages 
of  war,  or  the  confiscation  of  their  estates,  the  American  Com- 
missioners suggested  that  it  would  be  equally  reasonable  for  the 
English  to  make  good  the  private  damage  their  armies  did  to 
American  patriots  during  their  various  invasions.  This  unan- 
swerable argument  settled  that  point  in  favor  of  the  Americans. 

Lastly  came  the  boundary  question,  which  was  a  far  more  cir- 
cumstantial afiair,  and  presents  one  of  the  most  complex  condi- 
tions of  diplomacy  ever  recorded  in  history. 

Spain  was  then  a  powerful  nation,  and  was  allied  to  France  by 
the  closest  relations  of  mutual  interest,  as  each  were  under  the 
rule  of  a  Bourbon.  The  English  were  determined  to  retain  all 
the  territory  described  in  the  Quebec  bill  of  1774,  which  made 
the  Ohio  river  the  Southern  line  of  Canada. 

Meantime  the  Count  de  Aranda,  the  Spanish  Minister,  asserted 
the  claim  of  Spain  to  all  the  territory  between  the  Mississippi 
and  Alleghany  Mountains. 

At  this  juticture  Mr.  Jay,  with  his  usual  penetration,  made  the 
discovery  that  France  was  secretly  using  her  influence  in  favor  of 
the  Spanish  claim.  The  case  was  now  daily  becoming  more  com- 
plicated, and  the  American  Commissioners,  after  some  weeks  of 
delay,  availed  themselves  of  England's  willingness  to  concede  the 
boundary  of  the  Mississippi,  and  signed  the  definitive  treaty 
With  her  to  this  effect,  without  consulting  either  the  French  or 
Spanish  Ministers.  Had  the  signing  of  the  treaty  hung  on  the 
pleasure  of  Spai II  till  her  consent  was  obtained  to  making  the 
Mississippi  the  Western  boundary  of  the  United  States,  it  would 
never  have  been  signed,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  England 
would  not  liave  conceded  this  point,  if  the  Spanish  claim  had  not 
presented  obstacles  in  the  way  of  her  retaining  the  territory  in 
question,  even  if  the  Americans  relinquished  it.  This  considera- 
t;<>n,  in  addition  to  the  American  rights  by  virtue  of  Clark's  con- 


Contingent  Diplomacy.  185 

quest,  settled  the  destiny  )f  the  Northwest,  by  placing  it  under 
the  new  flag  of  the  Unitec  States.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  this 
result  grew  out  of  a  rare  combination  of  contingent  conditions, 
the  miscarriage  of  any  one  of  which  would  have  defeated  its  ac- 
complishment. 

John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  John  Jay  and  Henry  Laurens  were  the 
Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  negotiate  the  peace — all  able 
men,  perhaps  the  best  fitted  tor  the  work  of  any  the  country  afforded.  Mr.  Jay, 
in  particular,  distinguished  himself  by  his  penetration  into  the  mazes  of  Euro- 
pean diplomacy,  and  proved  himself  more  than  a  match  for  the  Commissioners 
of  England,  Spain  and  France,  though  they  had  grown  grey  (to  use  a  metaphor) 
in  such  service,  while  he  had  no  other  qualifications  but  his  master-mind,  and 
his  unshaken  purpose.  The  King  of  England  empowered  Richard  Oswald  to 
act  with  the  Commissioners  on  the  part  of  •'  The  Colonies  or  Plantations,  or  any 
body  or  bodies,  corporate  or  politic,  assembly  or  assemblies,  or  description  of  men, 
or  person  or  persons  whatsoever, ' '  and  to ' '  negotiate  a  peace  or  truce  with  the  said 
Colonies  or  Plantations,  or  any  of  them,  or  any  part  or  parts  thereof."  Count 
Vergennes,  the  French  Commissioner,  advised  that  these  powers  and  forms  were 
sufficient  to  meet  the  exigency,  and  Franklin,  in  his  loyalty  to  French  honor,  at 
first  coincided  with  him.  But  Jay  positively  refused  to  negotiate  on  any  basis 
that  did  not  establish  the  equality  of  the  Commissioners  of  both  countries  as  a 
titarting  point.  "  That  the  treaty  must  be  the  consequence  of  independence, 
and  not  independence  the  consequence  of  treaty."  Fntnklin  and  his  other  con- 
stituents soon  saw  the  importance  of  this  position,  and  they  all  united  with  him 
in  the  tenacity  with  which  he  insisted  on  it.  Whereupon  Mr.  Oswald,  not  with- 
out some  embarrassment,  reluctantly  exhibited  his  secret  instructions,  author- 
izing him  in  case  "The  American  Commissicners  are  not  at  liberty  to  treat  in 
any  terms  short  ot  independence,  you  are  to  declare  to  them  that  you  have 
authority  to  make  that  concession."  The  oommissioners  then  proceeded  to 
business,  which  had  not  progressed  far  till  Mr.  Jay  learned  with  surprise  and 
indignation,  that  Count  de  Aranda,  the  Spanish  Commissioner,  demanded  the 
abandonment  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  as  a  Western 
boundary.  Nor  was  this  policy  confined  t » the  ^anish  Court,  as  there  was  con- 
-vincing  evidence  to  Mr.  Jay  that  France  secretly  encouraged  Spain  in  this  de- 
mand. Franklin  at  first  would  not  believe  it.  but  Adams,  after  canvas.siug  the 
matter,  coincided  with  Jay,  and  Franklin  and  Laurens  were  soon  forced  into  the 
same  conviction  by  the  accumulating  evidence  in  its  favor.  Lender  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  American  Commissioners  signed  the  tieaty  of  peace  with  the 
English,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  French  Court,  as  soon  as  the  required 
U'tmi  were  agreed  to.  This  gave  rise  to  some  censure  on  tl.e  part  of  France 
and  Spain,  but  no  serious  rupture  from  any  quarter,  for  the  following  reasons: 
England  saw  the  impossibility  of  retaining  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi  herself, 
when  both  Spain  and  France  opposed  it.  France  had  then  just  begun  to  feel 
the  premonitory  symptoms  of  the  fearful  revolution,  which  soon  followed,  and 
Spain  had  neither  I'riendship  nor  honor  in  the  issue  sufficient  to  make  a  serioua 
jTotest  after  the  treaty  was  signed  by  the  two  principal  part'.es. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Characteristics  and  Costume  of  the  Virginia  Border  Men  and 
the  New  England  Pioneers — The  Ohio  Company  Formed — 
Marietta  Settled — Cession  of  the  Northwest  to  the  United 
States — Symes'  Purchase — Columbia^  North  Bend  and  Cin- 
cinnati  Settled — JEmigration  in  Arks — The  British  on  the 
Lakes — Their  Relations  with  the  Indians — St.  Clair  Arrives 
at  Marietta  as  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory — Courts 
Established — Uarmer  Invades  the  Indian  Country — The 
French  and  Indian  Villages  on  the  Wabash  Destroyed. 

Hitherto  the  Virginia  ranger,  among  whom  were  a  few  back- 
woods Penn sylvian ians,  were  the  only  Anglo-Americans  who  had 
crossed  the  Ohio  river. 

These  men  had  been  trained  amidst  the  toils  and  excitements 
of  camp-life  from  infancy.  The  crack  of  the  rifle  was  a  famil- 
iar sound  to  them,  and  the  Indian  war-whoop  not  an  unfrequent 
one. 

Their  character  was  moulded  from  two  extremes.  The  first 
and  fundamental  one  was  tlie  high-bred  civilization  of  their 
fathers,  and  the  other,  was  the  influence  which  their  collision 
with  the  savages  had  exerted  over  them.  This  had  stimulated 
their  heroic  virtues,  and  also  whetted  their  revenge  to  a  wiry- 
edge. 

Into  the  wilderness  they  had  marched — their  feet  clad  witii 
moccasins,  after  the  Indian  pattern — their  hunting-shirts  faced 
with  a  fringe,  and  sometimes  ornamented  with  wild-cats'  paws 
for  epaulettes.  The  inevitable  leathern  belt  which  they  wore  was 
as  heavy  as  a  horse's  surcingle  of  modern  days,  and  from  it  de- 
pended sockets  for  a  tomahawk,  a  large  knife,  and  a  pistol.  A 
heavy  rifle,  bullet-pouch  and  powder  horn,  com])leted  their  outfit. 

Such  were  the  men,  whose  vaulting  ambition  in  making  the 
conquest  of  the  country  beyond  the  Ohio,  had  wrenched  away  the 
jewel  which  the  heroic  Wolfe  in  his  dying  moments,  on  the 
neights  of  Abraham,  had  bequeathed  to  the  English  crown. 

Another  element  now  comes  to  the  scene.  The  NewEnglander 
has  heard  of  these  fertile  valleys,  and  comes  to  see  them.     He  is 


Settlement  of  Marietta.  18'^ 

dressed  in  a  blue-black  broadcloth  coat,  -with  a  velvet  collar  stif- 
fened with  buckram,  and  projectinc?  its  inflexible  form  above  the 
nape  of  his  neck,  often  con)ing  in  collision  with  the  rim  of  his  bell- 
crowned  hat  as  he  throws  his  head  back  with  an  air  of  conscious 
dignity,  neither  constrained  nor  ostentations.  His  vest  reaches 
the  entire  length  of  his  body,  but  is  cut  back,  leaving  angular 
flaps  at  the  extremities.  His  feet  are  shod  with  ponderous  boots, 
imparting  steadfastness  rather  than  elasticity  to  his  gait. 

By  these  men  were  formed  in  June,  1786,  a  corporation  called 
The  Ohio  Company.  It  was  composed  of  officers  and  soldiers 
from  New  England,  who  had  served  with  honor  in  the  war  of  the 
Kevolution.  On  the  23d  of  November,  1787,  the  stockholders  in 
this  Company  met  at  Bracket's  Tavern,  in  Boston,  and  voted  ta 
send  a  corps  of  forty-eight  men  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum 
river,  make  a  survey  of  public  lands  for  a  settlement,  cut  away 
the  forests  for  a  field,  and  make  other  preparations  for  the  colony. 

The  wood  choppers  were  to  receive  $4.00,  and  the  surveyors 
$27.00  per  month  while  in  actual  service,  and  General  Rufus  Put- 
nam, the  venerable  Superintendent,  was  to  receive  $40.00  per 
month.* 

The  party  landed  in  flat-boats  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum, 
the  7th  of  April,  1788,  and  began  to  lay  out  a  town  which  they 
first  named  Adelphi,  but  subsequently  changed  the  name  to 
Marietta,  in  honor  of  Marie  Antoinette,  the  fair  Queen  of  France, 
whose  supreme  influence  in  the  French  Court  had  been  used  in 
behalf  of  Franklin's  mission  there  in  1778,  to  secure  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  American  independence. 

The  New  England  element  was  here  planted  for  the  first  time 
beyond  the  Ohio,  and  here  it  ever  retained  its  foothold.  But  ere 
its  destined  influence  was  to  make  itself  widely  known  and  felt, 
the  third  and  last  conquest  of  the  country  was  to  be  made. 

The  first  conquest  had  been  made  from  the  French,  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  wdiich  gave  the  country  to  the  English. 
The  second  by  the  Virginians  under  Clark,  which  had  given  the 
country  to  the  United  States.  But  in  both  of  these  conquests  the 
natives  of  the  soil  saw  no  infringements  of  their  rights,  nor 
were  there  any  in  theory.  They  had  been  invited  to  take  part 
in  both  of  them,  and  had  done  so  under  an  impression  that  the 
nation  to  whom  they  had  allied  themselves,  would  protect  them 
in  their  natural  rights  to  the  soil.  But  as  ill-fortune  would 
have  it,  for  them,  they  had  fought  on  the  losing  side,  first  for  the 
French  against  the  English,  and  next,  chiefly  against  the  Ameri- 
cans during  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  had  drawn  upon  them- 
selves the  resentment   of  the  Virginians  and  Pennsylvanians, 

♦Hildreth's  Pioneer  Hist.  p.  202. 


188     Cession  of  The  North  West  to  the  United  States. 

and  the  Kentucky  pioneers,  who  were  now  beginning  to  settle 
that  infant  state.  At  no  distant  day  a  collision  was  inevitable 
between  them  and  tlie  Anglo  Americans,  which  was  not  to  be 
confined  to  the  border,  but  to  be  carried  into  the  forest  recesses, 
where  the  ownership  of  the  soil  was  to  be  decided  by  tlie  rifle, 
tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  in  a  series  of  campaigns,  on  a 
far  grander  scale  thau  any  which  had  yet  been  witnessed  in  tiie 
American  forest. 

In  1784,  on  the  1st  of  March,  the  state  of  Virginia  had  ceded 
all  her  rights  in  the  Northwest  to  the  United  States. 

The  deed  of  cession  contained  the  following  conditions,  viz: 
"  That  tlie  territorv  so  ceded  shall  be  laid  out  and  formed  into 
States,  containing  a  suitable  extent  of  territory,  not  less  than  one 
hundred,  nor  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square;  or 
as  near  thereto  as  circumstances  will  admit;  and  that  the  States 
so  formed  shall  be  distinct  Republican  States,  and  admitted  mem- 
bers of  the  Federal  Union ;  having  the  same  rights  of  sovereignty, 
freedom,  and  independence  as  the  other  States.  That  the  neces- 
sary and  reasonable  expense:  incurred  by  Virginia,  in  subduing 
any  British  posts,  or  in  maintaining  forts  and  garrisons  within, 
and  for  the  defense,  or  in  acquiring  any  part  of,  the  territory  so 
ceded  or  relinquished,  shall  be  fulTy  reimbursed  by  the  United 
States.  That  the  French  and  Canadian  inhabitants,  and  other 
settlers  of  the  Kaskaskias,  Post  Vincennes,  and  the  neighboring 
villages,  who  have  professed  themselves  citizens  of  Virginia,  shall 
have  their  possessions  and  titles  confirmed  to  them,  and  be  pro- 
tected in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  and  liberties.  That  a 
quantity  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of 
land,  promised  by  Virginia,  shall  be  allowed  and  granted  to  the 
then  Colonel,  now  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  and  to  the  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  of  his  regiment,  who  marched  with  him  when 
the  posts  of  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes  were  reduced,  and  to  the 
officers  and  soldiers  that  have  been  since  incorporated  into  the 
said  regiment,  to  be  laid  off  in  one  tract,  the  length  of  which  not 
to  exceed  double  the  breadth,  in  such  place  bn  the  northwest  side 
of  the  Ohio,  as  a  maiority  of  the  officers  shall  choose.* 

The  20th  day  of  May,  1785,  Congress  passed  an  ordinance  for 
the  survey  and  disposition  of  that  portion  of  the  territory  which 
had  been  purchased  by  treaty  from  the  Indian  inhabitants.  For 
carrying  tliis  ordinance  into  effect  one  surveyor  was  appointed 
from  each  of  the  States,  and  placed  under  the  direction  of  Thomas 
Hutchins,  the  geographer  of  the  United  States.  The  territory 
was  to  be  surveyed  into  townships  of  six  miles  square,  by  lines 

*  This  reservation  was  laid  off  on  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  river,  adjacent  to 
the  falls;  and  the  tract  was  called  the  "Illinois  Grant, "  or  " Clark's  Grant." 


Publio  Surveys.  189 

running  due  north  and  south,  and  others  crossing  these  at  right 
angles.  "  The  first  line  running  north  and  south  as  aforesaid, 
shall  begin  on  tlie  river  Ohio,  at  a  point  that  shall  be  found  to  be 
north  from  the  western  termination  of  a  line  which  has  been  run 
as  the  soxitliern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
first  line  running  east  and  west  shall  begin  at  the  same  point  and 
shall  extend  throughout  the  whole  territory."  The  townships 
were  to  be  numbered  from  south  to  north,  beginning  with  No.  1, 
and  the  ranges  to  be  distinguished  by  their  progressive  numbers 
to  the  westward;  tlie  first  range  extending  from  the  Ohio  to  Lake 
Erie,  being  marked  ]S"o.  1.  The  geographer  was  to  attend  per- 
sonally to  running  the  first  east  and  west  line,  and  to  take  the 
latitude  of  the  extremes  of  the  first  north  and  south  line,  and  of 
the  mouths  of  the  principal  rivers.  Seven  ranges  of  townships, 
in  the  direction  from  south  to  north,  were  ordered  to  be  first  sur- 
veyed, and  plats  thereof  transmitted  to  the  board  of  treasury,  and 
so  of  every  succeeding  seven  ranges  that  should  be  surveyed. 

After  these  lands  had  been  advertised  for  sale,  they  were  to  be 
sold  at  a  rate  of  not  less  than  one  dollar  per  acre,  with  an  addi- 
tion of  the  expenses  of  survey,  estimated  at  thirty-six  dollars  a 
township.  Four  lots,  numbered  8,  11,  26  and  29,  were  reserved, 
for  the  United  States,  out  of  every  township.  These  lots  were 
mile  squares  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres.  Lot  Ko.  16  was 
reserved  for  the  benefit  of  schools  within  the  township. 

_  The  States  of  New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  by 
virtue  of  ancient  royal  charters,  respectively  claimed  large  terri- 
tories lying  north  of  the  river  Ohio  and  west  and  northwest  of 
the  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania.  The  claim  of  New  York 
was,  however  transfecred  to  the  United  States,  by  a  deed  of  ces-- 
sion,  executed  in  Congress  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1781.  The 
claim  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  was  assigned  to  the  United 
States  on  the  19th  day  of  April,  1785;  and  on  the  13th  day  of 
September,  1786,  the  State  of  Connecticut  transferred  to  the 
United  States  her  claim  to  lands  in  the  West,  reserving  a  tract  of 
about  three  millions  of  acres,  bounded  on  the  north  by  lake  Erie, 
on  the  south  by  the  forty-first  degree  of  north  latitiide,  and  ex- 
tending westwardly  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  the 
western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania.  This  tract  was  called  the 
Western  Eeserve  of  Connecticut.  In  the  month  of  October, 
1786,  the  legislature  of  that  State  ordered  a  part  of  the  tract, 
'^"g  east  of  the  river  Cuyahoga,  to  be  surveved,  and  opened  au 
ofiice  for  the  sale  of  the  lands.  In  1792,  a  tract  containing  about 
five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land,  lying  in  the  western  part  of 
the  reservation,  was  granted  by  Connecticut  to  certain  citizens  of 
that  State  as  a  compensation  for  property  burned  and  destroyed 
m  the  towns  of  New  London,  New  Haven,  Fairfield,  and  llor- 


190  St.  Clair  Appointed  Governor. 

walk  by  the  British  troops  in  the  course  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.  The  tract  thus  granted  was  called  the  Fire  Lands.  On  the 
30th  of  May,  1800,  the  jurisdictional  claims  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut to  all  the  territory  called  the  Western  Iteserve  of  Con- 
necticut was  surrendered  to  the  United  States.  These  •''arious 
cessions  included  all  the  claims  held  by  old  collonial  charters  to 
any  western  lands,  all  of  which  being  transferred  to  the  United 
States,  it  only  remained  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title,  in  order, 
to  possess  the  country. 

On  the  oth  of  October,  1787,  Major-Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair  was 
appointed  Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territorv,  who  was  in- 
structed to  do  this  as  rapidly  as  consistent  with  the  peace. 

The  new  Territorial  Government  was  to  go  into  operation  on 
the  first  of  the  succeeding  February,  1788.  Emigration  was  rap- 
idly coming  into  the  country,  in  flat-boats  down  the  Ohio  river, 
and  settling  on  lands  already  surveyed  at  Marietta,  and  j^further 
down  on  lands  known  by  the  name  of  Symes'  Purchase. 

Soon  after  the  settlement  had  been  made  at  Marietta,  Major 
Benjamin  Sites,  with  about  twenty  men,  landed  in  November, 
1788,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami  river,  within  the  limits 
of  a  tract  of  ten  thousand  acres,  purchased  by  Major  Sites  from 
Judge  Symes.  Here  they  constructed  a  log  fort,  and  laid  out 
the  town  of  Columbia. 

The  next  month,  on  the  24th,  Mathias  Denman  and  Robert 
Patterson,  with  twelve  or  fifteen  men,  landed  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Licking  river,  just  below,  and  projected  the  town  of  Cincin- 
nati. Losanteville  was  the  first  name  given  to  the  place,  which 
had  been  manufactured  (says  Judge  Burnet  in  his  notes,  page  47) 
"  by  a  pedantic  foreigner,  whose  name  fortunately  has  been  for- 
gotten." 

It  was  formed,  he  said,  from  the  words  Le-os-ante-ville,  which 
he  rendered  "  The  Village  opposite  the  Mouth."  The  name  was 
not  long  retained,  but  by  wliose  authai-ity  it  was  changed,  is  not 
known.  Late  in  the  ensuing  auturo",  which  was  in  1789,  the 
town  was  surveyed  by  Colonel  Ludlow.  In  February  of  the  same 
year  a  third  town  was  commenced  on  the  same  tract  of  land,  at 
North  Bend,  just  below  Cincinnati.  This  was  done  by  Judge 
Symes  himself,  the  original  purchaser  of  the  tract.  A  few 
months  later,  a  town  was  laid  out  and  named  Symes,  but  the 
place  soon  became  known  only  by  North  Bend,  and  was  destined 
to  gain  more  notoriety  as  the  residence  of  "William  Henry  Harri- 
son, than  by  its  success  as  a  city.  As  might  be  supposed,  a  feel- 
ing of  rivalry  existed  between  the  three  towns  started,  each  of 
which  pnt  forth  its  best  efforts  to  attract  the  emigration  that  was 
rapidly  coming  into  the  country,  and  for  a  time  neither  seemed 


Fort  Washington  Built.  191 

to  eclipse  the  others  in  any  substantial  advantages  over  the  other 

two. 

At  tliis  juncture  a  celebrated  charmer  came  to  Cincinnati,  and 
her  influence  turned  the  scales  in  its  favor.  The  story  runs  as 
follows: 

Major  Doughty,  a  man  no  more  invulnerable  to  the  tender 
passion  than  other  majors,  was  ordered  by  General  Harmar  to  go 
down  the  Ohio,  and  erect  a  fort  for  the  protection  of  the  rapidly 
increasing  populr.cion  of  the  three  villages.  With  this  intent,  he 
landed  at  the  Eend,  and  soon  formed  the  acquaintance  of  a  fas- 
cinating woman,  who  was  the  wife  of  one  of  the  settlers  at  the 
place.  To  avoid  his  clandestine  attentions  to  his  wife,  the  hus- 
band changed  his  residence  to  Cincinnati;  but  this  only  served 
to  convince  the  Major  that  Cincinnati  instead  of  North  Bend  was 
the  most  propitious  place  for  the  fort,  and  he  promptly  went 
thither  and  built  a  block-house,  despite  the  remonstrances  of 
Symes  himself.* 

The  settlers  at  the  Bend  soon  deserted  the  place  in  favor  of 
Cincinnati,  partly  to  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the 
the  block-house,  in  case  of  an  Indian  outbreak,  and  partly 
through  a  conviction  that  it  gavp  better  promise  of  future  pro- 
gress. 

Fort  Washington,  a  more  subsluiitiai  work  of  defense,  was  soon 
afterwards  bnilt  at  the  place. 

During  the  early  years  of  Western  settlement,  the  Ohio  river 
wtis  the  only  highway  by  which  the  country  was  reached.  Flat- 
boats,  known  by  the  special  name  of  arks,  with  all  the  appurte- 
nances of  cooking  and  sleeping,  were  built  on  the  upper  tributa- 
ries of  the  Ohio  river,  and  from  ten  to  twenty  families  would  em- 
bark in  a  single  one  for  the  West.  Down  the  Ohio  they  floated, 
whither  fortune  and  the  current  would  carry  them,  landing  at 
last  in  some  propitious  cove  in  the  river  that  looked  inviting. 
Here  the  ark  is  moored,  and  in  it  they  still  make  their  home, 
till  log  cabins  can  be  erected  on  shore.  Tliis  done,  the  tempora- 
ry community  breaks  up,  each  family  setting  up  for  themselves, 
and  the  new  settlement  is  begun. 

New  Design,  four  miles  sotith  of  Bellefontaine,  in  Monroe 
county,  Illinois,  was  settled  in  this  way  by  some  Virginians  in 
1781.  From  the  germ  planted  liere,  grew  to  maturity,  by  con- 
stant accessions  from  Virginia,  and  later  from  Kentucky,  the  set- 
tlements of  Southern  Illinois,  with  their  habits  and  sentiments 
firmly  ingrained  into  their  minds,  which  they  inherited  from 
Virginia. 

While  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  river  were  first  being  settled, 

•  Burnet's  Notes,  pp.  53-54. 


192  St.  Clair  Arrives  at  Marietta. 

the  posts  of  Detroit,  ]\[ichiliinackinae,  Green  Bay,  St.  Joseph, 
Sandusky,  Niai^^ara  and  06\vei;<j,  were  scarcely  thought  of  by  the 
Americans.  The  Britisli  still  held  garrisons  in  them,  all  the 
same  as  they  had  done  during  the  American  Eevolution. 

On  the  12th  of  July,  in  17S3,  soon  after  the  definitive  treaty 
of  peace  had  been  signed  at  Paris,  Gen.  AVashington  sent  Baron 
Steuben  to  Canada  to  cjufer  with  tlie  Governor,  for  the  purpose 
of  transferring  these  posts  to  the  United  States,  but  to  his  sur- 
prise, he  refused  to  deliver  tlicni  up  to  the  Americans,  and  the 
Englishcontinued  to  hold  these  ])0sts  for  the  present,  although 
the  act  was  in  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Paris. 

From  their  ramparts  waved  the  red  cross  of  St.  George,  and 
even  in  these  savage  reah.is  the  loyalty  to  the  English  Govern- 
ment perhaps  exceeded  that  of  the  Islanders  themselves. 

As  might  be  sujiposed,  the  English  had  little  confidence  in  tin; 
permanency  of  American  institutions,  and  looked  forward  to  a 
time  when  the  attempt  of  the  Americans  to  set  up  a  government 
on  the  plan  of  universal  suffrage  woidd  result  in  a  failure.  Un- 
der this  expectation  the  prudential  British,  with  an  eye  to  the 
beautiful  as  well  as  their  pecuniary  interests,  lingered  on  the 
great  waters  of  the  interior,  waiting  to  see  what  the  future  might 
bring  forward;  and  from  these  various  forts  they  annually  dis- 
tributed large  amounts  of  goods  as  presents  to  the  Indians,  per- 
haps on  the  same  principle  that  a  client,  in  anticipation  of  a  law- 
suit gives  retaining  fees  to  lawyers. 

These  acts  stirred  up  bad  blood  in  the  hearts  of  the  Americans, 
but  there  was  no  remedy.  Washington  himself  counseled  sub- 
mission to  the  situation  for  the  present,  and  with  that  clear  vis- 
ion into  the  future,  for  which  he  was  reniarkable,  looked  forward 
to  a  time  when  "manifest  destiny"  would  drive  the  English 
awa}'  from  the  lakes. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1788,  St.  Clair  arrived  at  Marietta,  and  a3 
Governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  set  the  necessary  machin- 
ery in  motion  to  form  a  government  agreeable  to  his  appoint- 
ment by  Washington,  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

Tlie  first  county  was  laid  out  with  dimensions  large  enough  to 
inchide  all  the  settlements  around  Marietta,  and  was  named 
Washington  county.  About  tlie  first  of  June,  1790,  the  (;ov- 
ernor,  with  the  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court,  descended  the  Ohio 
to  Cincinnati,  and  laid  out  Hamilton  county.  A  few  weeks  later 
he,  with  Winthrop  Sargent,  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  proceeded 
to  Kaskaskia,  iu  the  Illinois  country,  and  organized  St.  Clair 
county. 

Knox  county,  around  Vincennes,  was  soon  afterwards  laid  out. 
At  each  of  these  four  counties,  courts  were  established  ou  a  model 
which  has  not  beca  materially^  changed  since. 


r     fa 
,    1-4 

5  ea 


^ 


Courts  Established  in  the  North  West.  193 

The  Indians  beheld  these  innovations  into  their  country  with 
meful  thoughts.  Tlie  United  States  had  neither  surveyed  nor  sold 
any  of  these  lands  that  had  not  been  bought  and  paid  for  through 
treaties  with  certain  chiefs,  but  it  was  claimed  by  the  great  mass 
of  Indians  that  these  chiefs  had  no  authority  to  sell  the  lands. 

To  enumerate  the  various  treaties  by  which  the  first  purchases 
were  made  along  the  Ohio  river,  would  fill  a  volume  with  monot- 
onous formula.  '  They  are  preserved  in  government  archives,  but 
are  seidoin  referred  to  now. 

They  were  the  instruments  by  which  the  Indian  was  driven 
from  his  native  soil,  and  having  executed  their  mission,  are  filed 
away  like  writs  of  ejectment  after  liaving  been  served.  In  al- 
most all  cases  they  were  signed  by  the  Indians  under  a  pressure 
from  which  tliey  could  not  extricate  themselves. 

If  they  signed  them  they  would  get  pay  for  their  lands,  which 
the  borders  of  advancing  civilization  had  rendered  useless  to 
them,  while  if  they  refused,  ihey  would  nevertheless  be  forced 
back  without  any  remuneration.  The  chiefs  could  plainly  see 
this,  but  the  great  masses  of  red  men  could  not.  Keither  could 
they  understand  how,  by  virtue  of  these  instruments,  the  white 
man  should  come  among  them,  cut  away  the  forests,  and  whelnx 
the  fabric  of  savage  society  in  ruin. 

In  vain  the  poetry,  the  romance,  and  the  conscience  of  the  na- 
tion might  lift  up  its  voice  in  behalf  of  the  poor  Indian.  There 
was  but  one  way  in  which  he  could  be  saved,  which  was  to  beat 
his  scalping  knife  into  a  plowshare,  and  till  the  soil,  but  he  was 
as  incapable  of  doing  this  as  the  drones  in  the  hive  of  industry  in 
our  day  are  to  contribute  to  the  public  weal  their  share  of  its 
burdens. 

liaving  established  courts  at  Kaskaslcia  and  Vincennes,  St. 
Clair  returned  to  his  headquarters  at  Cincinnati  early  in  the  snin- 
mer  of  the  same  year,  1790.  During  his  absence  the  outcrop- 
ping discontents  of  the  Indians  had  been  made  manifest  by  theif 
wuylaving  tlie  emigrants  as  tiiey  came  down  the  Ohio  in  arks, 
and  unless  some  means  were  taken  to  stop  these  attacks,  this 
great  and  oidy  highway  to  the  West  would  soon  be  closed. 

This  was  what  the  Indians  aimed  at  in  their  attacks,  nor  had 
they  yet  learned  the  impossibility  of  the  undertaking. 

St.  Chiir  now  determined  to  invade  the  Indian  country  to  pun- 
isi>  the  disturbers  of  the  peace,  and  by  virtue  of  authority  vested 
in  him  by  the  President,  lie  called  for  1,000  militia  from  Vir- 
ginia,* and  500  from  Pennsylvania. 

So  careful  was  President  Washington  at  this  time  not  to  pro- 

•Tlio  State  of  Virginia  then  indiided  Kentucky,  in  which  settk'nentii  had 
been  made  bclore  the  Northwest  Territory  was  organized. 


19i     Apology  to  the  English  for  Fighting  the  Indians. 

vote  a  quarrel  with  the  British,  that  he  deemed  it  imprudent  to 
invade  the  Indian  country,  without  sending  an  apology  to  the 
English  commander  at  Detroit,  lest  he  might  take  oftense  that 
the  Americans  had  dared  to  make  war  on  his  allies.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  letter  which  St.  Clair  i»ent  him  : 

"  Makiktta,  19th  September,  1790. 
"  Sir: — As  it  is  not  improbable  that  an  account  of  the  military 
preparations  going  forward  in  this  quarter  of  the  country  may 
reach  \-ou,  and  give  you  some  uneasiness,  while  the  object  to 
which  they  are  to  be  directed  is  not  perfectly  known  to  you,  I 
am  commanded  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  give  you 
the  fullest  assurances  of  the  pacific  disposition  entertained  toward 
Oreat  Britain  and  all  her  possessions  ;  and  to  inform  you  ex- 
plicitly that  the  expedition  about  to  be  undertaken  is  not  in- 
tended against  the  post  you  have  the  honor  to  command,  nor  any 
other  place  at  present  in  the  possession  of  the  troops  of  his  Bri- 
tannic majesty,  but  is  on  foot  with  the  sole  design  of  humbling 
and  chastising  some  of  the  savage  tribes,  whose  depredations  are 
become  intolerable,  and  whose  cruelties  have  of  late  become  an 
outrage,  not  on  the  people  of  America  only,  but  on  humanity  ; 
which  I  now  do  in  the  most  unequivocal  manner.  After  this 
candid  explanation,  sir,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect,  both  from 
your  own  personal  character,  and  from  the  regard  you  have  for 
that  of  your  nation,  that  those  tribes  will  meet  with  neither  coun- 
tenance nor  assistance  from  any  under  your  command,  and  that 
you  will  do  what  in  your  power  lies,  to  restrain  the  trading  peo- 
ple, from  whose  instigations  there  is  too  good  reason  to  believe, 
much  of  the  injuries  of  the  savages  has  proceeded.  I  have  for- 
warded this  letter  by  a  private  gentleman,  in  preference  to  that 
of  an  officer,  by  whom  you  might  have  expected  a  communica- 
tion of  this  kind,  that  every  suspicion  of  the  purity  of  the  views 
of  the  United  States  might  be  obviated." 

Harmar's  whole  force  amounted  to  1,453  men  all  told.  On 
the  26th  of  September  Col.  Hardin  led  the  advance  to  cut  a  road, 
but  the  main  body  did  not  leave  Fort  Washington  till  the  3d  of 
October,  1790. 

The  objective  point  was  the  Miami  village  at  the  bend  of  the 
Maumee,  where  Fort  Wayne  now  stands. 

After  a  march  of  sixteen  days,  Col.  Hardin  reached  the  place 
with  the  advance,  intending  to  surprise  the  Indians,  but  on  en- 
tering the  village  he  found  it  deserted.  Their  store  of  corn  was 
then  rated  at  twenty  thousand  bushels  in  the  ear,*  which  was 
consigned  to  the  flames  by  the  invaders. 

'  •Brice'8  History  of  Fort  Wayno,  p.  125.  ' 


Little  Turtle  Defeats  Hardin.  195 

The  troops  were  very  disorderly,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  Gen. 
Harmar,  who  soon  arrived  with  the  main  body,  everything  like 
reasonable  discipline  was  impossible. 

After  a  few  days  the  celebrated  chief,  Little  Turtle,  fell  sud- 
denly upon  Col.  "Hardin's  detachment,  while  some  miles  away 
from  the  main  body,  and  put  them  to  flight  with  heavy  loss.  Af- 
ter visiting  destruction  on  another  Indian  village  two  miles  far- 
ther south,  Gen.  Harmar  took  up  his  march  for  Fort  Washing- 
ton. 

But  ere  they  left  the  scene  of  operations,  Little  Turtle  man- 
aged to  bring  on  anotlier  battle  with  a  strong  detachment  under 
Col.  Hardin,  and  severely  defeated  them. 

The  main  body  were  not  brought  into  action  with  the  Indians 
at  all.  but  continued  their  retreat  to  Fort  "Washington,  where  it, 
with  Hardin's  detachment,  arrived  on  the  4th  of  November,  hav- 
ing lost  183  men  killed,  besides  many  wlio  were  wounded. 

While  this  expedition  had  been  in  progress,  Gen.  Hamtramck 
led  a  force  from  Vincennes  up  the  Wabash,  and  destroyed  the 
Piankeshaw  villages,  with  their  stores.  The  loss  of  their  corn  was 
severely  felt  by  the  Indiana,  but  the  prestige  of  victory  was  with 
them,  and  they  were  much  elated  with  the  success  that  had  at- 
tended their  arms. 

The  Indians  were  emboldened,  and  the  apprehensions  of  the 
settlements  were  aroused,  particularly  those  of  the  Marietta  col- 
ony, who  were  more  distant  from  succor  in  case  of  an  Indian  raid 
than  Cincinnati,  as  the  latter  was  within  ready  reach  of  the  Ken- 
tucky settlements,  where  aid  could  be  obtained  at  short  notice. 

After  Harmar's  expedition,  the  Indians,  firm  in  the  belief  that 
the  British  would  make  common  cause  with  them  in  their  war 
with  the  United  States,  sent  a  deputation  to  Lord  Dorchester, 
who  then  held  command  at  Detroit,  to  learn  from  him  the  amount 
of  support  they  could  expect  in  the  coming  war. 

Up  to  this  time  such  inquiries  had  been  answered  with  meta- 
phor, uttered  from  the  tongues  of  such  villainous  apostates  of 
civilization  as  Girty,  Elliot  and  McGee. 

This  notorious  trio  had  used  every  means  in  their  power  to 
deceive  the  Indians  into  the  belief  that  the  English  were  ready 
to  take  up  the  hatchet  in  their  behalf.  Nor  can  it  be  denied  that 
the  English  officers  themselves  had  given  the  Indians  grounds 
for  such  expectations.  Indeed,  they  had,  according  to  savage 
rites,  pledged  themselves  to  sucli  a  policy  by  making  tlic  Indians 
presents  of  hatchets,  painted  red  as  blood,  by  which  emblem  the 
Indian  is  bound  as  solemnly  as  by  vows,  and  he  had  no  reason 
to  look  upon  such  a  symbol  as  not  equally  binding  on  the  part  of 
the  whites,  till  he  learned  to  the  contrary  by  experience. 


196  .6'cotfs  Expedition. 

The  issue  soon  came  before  Lord  Dorcliester  in  unequivocal 
form,  and  lie  declined  the  warlike  proposals,  ajreatlj  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  his  swarthy  friends.  No  pretext  offered  for  war 
with  the  United  States,  thanks  to  the  ])rudence  of  Washington 
and  Jay,  by  whose  flexible  but  transcendent  policy  any  expecta- 
tions which  the  English  might  entertain,  of  winning  jurisdiction 
over  the  Northwest,  had  vanished  into  a  forlorn  hope. 

Harmar's  expedition  liaving  made  no  impression  on  the  In- 
dians, another  was  planned,  to  be  undertaken  the  next  year,  1791, 
by  General  Charles  Scott.  It  consisted  of  eight  hundred  monnted 
men,  the  flower  of  Kentucky  biish-flgliters,  and  its  destination 
was  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Wabash  above  Vincennes.  "^riie 
place  was  soon  reached  by  the  mounted  scouts,  the  Indian  towns 
destroyed  and  about  fifty  prisoners  taken,  bat  no  decisive  action 
was  fought. 

This  expedition,  like  Harmar's,  which  preceded  it,  only  served 
to  inflame  the  resentment  of  the  Indians  and  widen  the  breach 
between  them  and  the  whites  into  an  impassable  gulf. 

Scott's  raid  was  succeeded  by  another  similar  one  under  Gen- 
eral Wilkinson,  the  succeeding  summer.  He  went  up  the  Wa- 
bash as  far  as  Ouiatanon,  laying  waste  towns  and  fields  as  he 
went.  Ouiatanon  was  then  a  thriving  village  of  about  seventy 
comfortable  dwellings,  beside  many  Indian  huts.  It  was  com- 
posed of  French,  half-breeds  and  Indians,  and  many  signs  of 
progress,  such  as  books  and  pictures,  were  manifest  in  this 
wilderness  post.  Their  fields  of  corn  were  cultivated  with 
plows,  like  the  English,  and  their  horses  and  cows  were  well 
taken  care  of.  * 

The  town  was  burnt  and  everything  destroyed  that  the  invad- 
ers could  seize,  whether  the  property  of  French  or  Indians. 
They  all  belonged  to  a  less  ambitious  race  than  the  Americans. 
The  French  and  Indians  had  lived  together  here  since  1733, 
and  the  hybrid  offspring  that  rose  up  in  the  forest  in  conse- 
quence was  essentially  Indian  in  social  matters,  while  the  French 
themselves  manifested  no  disposition  to  break  through  tlie  toils 
of  savage  manners,  customs  and  superstitions.  Whatever  may 
have  been  their  standard  of  honor,  or  their  comnmnistic  propen- 
sities, of  equality  and  indisposition  to  eclipse  each  other  in 
wealth  or  grandeur,  these  were  the  last  qualifications  that 
wouhl  recommend  them  to  the  favor  oi  Americans,  whose  motto 
is  "Excelsior." 

♦  Am.  State  Papers,  Vol.  v.,  p.  121. 


CHAPTER  XIL 

Little  Turtle — Bis  Masterly  Ahilities — Privations  of  the  Early 
Scitlers — St.  Claires  Expedition  against  the  Indians — His 
Defeat  —  Its  Causes  —  lie  Resigns — Gen.  Anthony  Wayne 
Succeeds  him — Peace  Commissioners  on  the  Canada  Border — 
The  Indians  claim  the  Ohio  River  as  a  Boundary  Line 
between  Themselves  and  the  Whites — The  Terms  Inadmissible 
and  the  Council  a  Failure. 

Among  the  forest  lieroes  whose  exploits  have  made  their  his- 
tory ilhistrious  in  tlieir  downfall,  was  a  chief  named  Little  Turtle, 
^lifted  with  the  essential  qualities  which  make  up  the  model 
jffeat  man  in  civilized. communities,  and  nearly  exempt  from  the 
cweiitricities  peculiar  to  his  race,  his  many  virtues  shone  with 
untarnished  lustre  aniidst  the  turmoil  of  tliecamp  and  the  venge- 
ful spirit  of  the  times.  He  was  not  a  chief  by  birth,  but  rose  to 
tliat  distinction  per  force  of  his  merit,  both  as  counselor  and 
warrior,  and  at  maturity  he  became  principal  chief  of  the  Miamis, 
jiiui  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  neighboring  tribes  who  had 
confederated  themselves  together  to  beat  back  the  white  invaders 
of  their  soil.  Immediately  after  the  raids  of  Harmar,  Scott  and 
Wilkinson,  the  forest  echoed  with  the  war-whoop  from  the 
Muskingum  to  the  "Wabash.  The  Miamis,  Chippewas,  Dela- 
wares,  Pottawattomies.  Hurons  and  Shawanese,  gathered  under 
the  banner  of  Little  Turtle,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  Girty, 
McGee  and  Elliot,  and  his  subordinate  chiefs,  constituted  the  best 
<lrilled  army  of  Indian  warriors  that  ever  lought  the  white  man. 
J5t.  Clair  had  foreseen  all  this  vengeful  animosity  that  rankled  in 
the  hearts  of  the  Indians,  and  had  made  preparations  to  meet  it. 
The  country  over  wliich  he  had  been  appointed  governor  v/as  a 
wiMerness  of  forest  and  prairie,  tenanted  by  its  native  in'iab:- 
taiits;  some  of  whom,  under  the  tutelage  of  the  French,  had 
^ji-ected  log  cabins  to  live  in  instead  of  bark  huts.  The  American 
settlers  did  not  number  two  thousand  in  the  entire  territory. 
Tliey  were  settled  within  the  limits  of  "Washington  county,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum  and  Svins'  Purchase,  on   tne  Ohio, 


198  Intrigues  of  Spain. 

embracing  Cincinnati  and  its  vicinity.  To  these  may  be  added  a 
few  Americans  settled  amongst  tlie  French  villages  of  the  Illinois 
country,  and  also  among  the  settlers  at  Vincennes.  Thriving  set- 
tlements liad  started  in  Kentucky  from  the  parent  State  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  these  were  the  main  dependence  of  the  inhabitants 
north  of  the  Ohio  river,  in  case  of  a  sudden  Indian  outbreak. 

The  situation  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  entire  valley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi was  complicated  with  untried  conditions.  England  still 
held  the  entire  lake  country,  Spain  hold  the  west  bank  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  port  of  Isew  Orleans,  and  was  putting  forth  her 
utmost  exertions  to  induce  the  people  of  Kentucky  to  cecede  from 
the  United  States,  and  to  this  end  closed  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi,  refusing  to  make  it  free  to  the  "Western  people,  except 
('1  c  ■■  tdli'ons  that  they  would  cut  loose  from  the  parent  stem  and 
Eet  up  a  government  undc  the  protection  of  Spain.  To  bring 
about  this  she  sent  intriguing  emissaries  to  Kentuckj-;  nor  did 
they  fail  to  get  some  encouragement.  Under  this  double  pres- 
sure, the  settlers  of  the  Northwest  maintained  an  unshaken  con- 
fidence in  their  ability  to  struggle  through  all  the  writhings  of 
their  crooked  path. 

They  labored  incessantly  at  their  daily  toil,  and  were  contented 
with  the  coarsest  fare,  Corn  meal  mixed  with  water,  baked  on  a 
board  turned  up  to  the  lire,  was  almost  the  only  bread  they  had,  and 
all  they  wanted.  Their  meat,  besides  w^hat  game  they  shot,  was 
pork,  fattened  on  the  nuts  of  the  forest,  which  they  called  mast. 
Within  the  territory  at  this  time  were  four  American  forts:  Fort 
Knox,  at  Vincennes,  garrisoned  with  80  men ;  Ft,  Washington,  at 
Cincinnati,  with  75  men;  Ft.  Steuben,  tv,'enty-two  miles  above 
Wheeling,  on  the  Ohio  River,  with  61  men ;  and  Campus  Martins, 
at  Marietta,  with  45  men. 

The  latter  place  represented  the  blandishments  of  BosPon,  the 
classical  learning  of  Yale,  and  the  patriotism  of  Bunker  Hill 
Here  the  first  laws  to  govern  the  new  territory  were  published; 
and  here  its  first  courts  were  established,  and  thougli  Gen.  St. 
Clair's  headquarters  were  at  Cincinnati,  Marietta  was  by  far  the 
most  congenial  place  for  his  family  to  reside  in.  Accordingly  suit- 
able appartments  were  fitted  up  for  their  accomniodation  in  Cam- 
pus Martins,  In  Louisa,  his  oldest  daughter,  were  united  the 
Western  heroine  with  the  refinements  of  Philadelphia,  where  she 
was  educated.  In  the  winter  of  1790,  she  was  often  seen  skating 
on  the  Muskingum  river,  in  which  exercise  few  of  the  young 
officers  could  equal  her  in  act'vity.  During  successive  years  she 
often  rode  through  the  adjacent  forests  on  horseback,  armed  with 
her  rifle,  undaunted  by  the  dangers  of  Indian  ambuscades.  Her 
Bkill  in  the  use  of  this  weapon  was  sometimes  turned  to  a  good 


St.  Clair  Invades  the  Indian  Country.  199 

account  in  the  wild  j;ame  with  which  she  furnished  her  father's 
table,  shot  by  the  bullet  under  the  fatal  aiim  of  her  blue  eye. 

Hildreth,  the  pioneer  historian,  in  his  rapturous  praises  of 
her  surpassing  beauty  and  grace,  in  his  imagination  substitutes 
a  bow  and  arrow  for  her  rifle,  and  sees  her  flying  through  the 
wooded  heather,  mounted  on  her  high  mettled  steed,  like  Diana, 
the  daughter  of  Jupiter,  and  goddess  of  hunting. 

In  this  gifted  lady  was  represented  the  type  of  American 
genius,  the  transcendent  images  of  civilization,  before  which 
all  bow  with  loyalty  and  devotion.  Should  this  power  supplant 
the  barbarism  of  the  forest,  and  make  it  teem  with  joy  and 
beauty  multiplied  with  years?  or  should  the  inherent  rights  of 
the  Indians  be  respected,  and  the  country  which  he  owned  be 
held  sacred  to  the  chase  and  occupied  only  by  the  tenants  of  the 
wigwam  ?  This  was  the  question  before  the  American  people, 
especially  the  pioneer  who  had  crossed  the  Ohio,  which  was  then 
looked  upon  by  the  Indians  as  a  partition  line  between  the 
whites  and  themselves. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  1791,  Gen.  St.  Clair  arrived  at  Ft.  "Wash- 
ington, which  was  to  be  the  rallying  point  for  the  troops  destined 
to  invade  the  Indian  country.  By  a  special  act  of  Congress, 
3,000  men  were  to  be  raised  for  this  service  from  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia;  but  owing  to  the  poverty 
of  the  country,  as  well  as  the  long  continued  draft  upon  its 
sinews  of  war,  the  quota  had  not  been  filled.  The  rising  State 
of  Kentucky,  however,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  sent  418  men  to 
partially  supply  the  deficiency.  On  the  17th  of  September  the 
whole  force  was  gathered  at  Ludlow's  Station,  five  miles  north  of 
Ft.  Washington,  and  the  march  began. 

The  first  day  brought  the  army  to  the  banks  of  the  Big 
Miami  where  Fort  Hamilton  was  built,  which  is  the  site  of  the 
present  beautiful  town  of  Hamilton,  twenty  four  miles  north  of 
Cincinnati. 

Continuing  northwardly  forty-two  miles.  Fort  Jefferson  was 
built  on  the  24th,  six  miles  south  of  the  present  town  of  Green- 
ville, in  Dark  county.  Delays  in  the  arrival  of  provisions  for 
the  troops,  caused  murmuring  among  the  militia,  and  three 
hundred  of  them  deserted.  On  the  30th,  the  army  made  another 
advance  of  seven  miles. 

On  the  3d  of  November  it  had  arrived  at  the  head  waters  of 
the  Wabash,  where  it  encamped  in  order  of  battle,  as  the  enemy 
were  supposed  to  be  near. 

The  next  day,  before  sunrise,  just  after  the  early  morning 
drill,  an  advance  corps  of  the  army  were  attacked  and  driven  in 
with  great  precipitancy  upon  the  main  body.     Little  Turtle,  who 


200  Defeat  of  Ths  Americana. 

commanded  the  Indians,  with  lus  natural  penetration,  made  the 
most  01  tliis  success  by  following  it  up  with  such  promptness 
that  the  disorder  in  St.  Clair's  army,  occasioned  by  his  dashing 
charge,  was  never  luliy  recovered  from,  although  the  action  soon 
became  general,  and  several  successful  bayonet  charges  nnder 
Col.  Darke,  caused  the  Ijidians  to  retreat  for  a  short  time,  but 
only  to  renew  tlie  battle  liercer  than  ever. 

At  nine  o'clock  it  became  evident  to  St.  Clair  that  thn  day  waa 
lost.  One-third  of  his  men  laid  dead  or  wounded  on  the  ground, 
which  they  could  no  longer  defend.  Tlie  artillery  was  silent  for 
the  want  of  men  to  serve  it.  General  Butler,  the  second  in  com- 
mand, laid  mortally  wounded,  while  his  own  clothes  were  pierced 
with  bullets;  for  he,  with  his  accustomed  courage,  had  shared 
the  dangers  of  the  soldiers.  Under  these  distressing  circum- 
stances, he  executed  a  skillful  manonver  in  the  face  of  the  tri- 
umphant enemy,  and  secured  a  retreat  with  less  loss  than  was 
feared  might  result  from  a  headlong  flight  before  a  fleet-footed 
and  victorious  foe.  His  camp  equipage  and  most  of  the  wounded 
were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  victors.  His  losses  were  39  oflicers 
and  593  men  killed,  and  22  officers  and  242  men  wounded. 
Little  Turtle  reported  his  loss  at  150  killed,  and  from  his  un- 
challenged record  for  integrity,  his  report  may  be  taken  as 
correct. 

The  most  rigid  scrutiny  failed  to  cast  any  blame  on  the  con- 
duct of  St.  Clair  in  this  disastrous  battle,  but  attributed  the 
defeat  t^"  the  want  of  discipline  in  the  raw  recruits  of  which  his 
army  was  composed,  not  forgetting,  with  all,  to  state  that  the 
Indians  fought  with  exemplary  courage,  directed  by  the  master 
]mind  of  Little  Turtle. 

More  than  a  century  ago  there  was  a  school  of  naturalists, 
composed  largely  of  French  savants,  who  promulgated  a  theory 
based  on  scientific  principles,  as  they  averred  that  America  did 
not  produce  the  higher  grades  of  animals;  that  even  man  would 
become  dwarfed  in  body  and  mind  in  that  unfriendly  climate, 
unless  fresh  European  blood  was  constantly  infused  into  his  veins 
by  emigration  and  intermarriage. 

This  theory  must  fall  to  the  ground  when  the  soil  of  America 
produces  such  men  as  Little  Turtle,  whose  great  mind,  not  trace- 
able to  European  origin,  shone  forth  even  more  conspicuously  in 
Jiis  statesrfian-like  counsels  after  the  battle  than  ever  before,  as 
will  appear  in  the  history  of  the  next  campaign.  This  theory, 
however,  had  already  been  put  to  the  blush  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Franklin,  when  he  was  in  Paris  in  1783,  as  minister  to  settle 
terms  of  peace  with  England  after  the  Revolution.  On  a  certain 
dav  he  invited  a  number  of  the  literati  of  France  to  dine  with 


Peace  Council.  201 

him.  Some  casualty  turning  the  subject  ot'  the  natural  history 
of  America,  one  of  the  guests  asked  JPranklin's  opinion  on  the 
tlien  acknowledged  inferiority  of  animal  growth  there.  The 
attention  of  the  whole  company  was  now  arrested  to  listen  totlio 
profound  words  of  tht  American  philosopher,  and  when  he  arose 
from  \u6  seat,  and  requested  his  American  friends  to  do  the  same, 
the  interest  was  redoubled.  The  six  Americans  present  arose — 
all  muscular,  overgrown  men,  with  a  fall  measure  of  brains  and 
thorough  bass  voices.  "  Now  let  six  Frenchmen  arise,"  said  the 
sage  of  the  New  World.  Up  started  the  required  number  of 
Pariians,  whose  slender  frames  and  pale  faces  contrasted  unfavor- 
ably with  the  Americans.     This  settled  the  jaoint. 

When  the  terrible  defeat  of  St.  Clair  is  read,  let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  soil  of  the  Northwest  nurtured  into  being  the 
men  to  accomplish  it  in  defense  of  their  homes;  and  if  this  brave 
and  eloquent  people  had  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  civilization, 
we  could  not  have  conquered  them,  nor  should  we  have  wished 
to.  Even  under  all  their  disadvantages  they  made  a  valiant  de- 
fense, and  in  the  grandeur  of  their  fall  left  ample  proofs  that 
muscle  and  mind  are  indigenous  to  our  soil. 

After  this  disastrous  campaign  emigration  ceased,  but  the 
American  forts  were  all  held,  including  Fort  Hamilton  and  Fort 
JefttTson,  which  had  been  built  by  St.  Clair  on  his  way  into  the 
Indian  country.  From  prudential  as  well  as  patriv»tic  motives, 
he  now  resigned  his  position  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  army, 
and  treneral  Anthony  Wayne  was  substituted  in  his  place.  Five 
thousand  men  were  to  be  raised  for  the  expedition,  which  he  was 
to  lead  against  Little  Turtle.  While  these  prepiu-ations  were 
making  for  the  new  campaign,  Benjamin  Lincoln,  Beverly  Ran- 
dolph and  Timothy  Pickering,  were  appo'nted  as  commissioners 
in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  to  meet  the  Indians  in  council 
near  the  mouth  of  Detroit  river,  not  distant  from  the  Indian 
camp  at  the  rapids  of  the  Manmee,  and  if  possible  negotiate  a 
peace.  Among  the  secret  instructions  which  were  given  them 
by  Washington,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  they  were 
required  to  make  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar  the  basis  of  a  peace. 
By  this  treaty,  the  eastern  and  southern  portions  of  the  present 
State  of  Ohio  had  been  ceded  to  the  United  States,  although  the 
Indians  disputed  the  validity  of  the  treaty,  on  the  ground  that 
the  tribes  most  interested  liad  taken  no  part  in  it.  Other  instruc- 
tions authorized  the  commissioners  to  make  some  concessions  to 
the  Indians,  by  giving  up  some  lands  already  occupied  out- 
«i(le  of  the  limits  established  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar. 

They  were  also  authoi'ized  to  give  to  the  Indians  fifty  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  goods  immediately,  and  ten  thousand  dollars 


202  President  Washington's  Speech. 

"iporth  annually  forever.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  in  coin  was  to 
be  given  to  the  head  chiefs  besides  the  above.  The  commission- 
ers arrived  on  the  ground  in  July,  1793,  by  way  of  the  lakes, 
courteously  assisted  by  tlie  Eiiglish  in  their  methods  of  travel  at 
that  time.  While  the  council  was  in  session,  Oen.  Wayne's 
army  remained  near  Cincinnati,  waiting  its  result,  and  the  In- 
dians, on  their  part,  faithfully  preserved  a  peaceful  attitude, 
according  to  a  previous  agreement  on  botli  sides.  The  great 
point  for  which  the  Indians  contended  was  that  the  Ohio  river 
should  forever  be  the  boundary  line  between  themselves  and  the 
whites;  and  the  arguments  they  used  to  sustain  this  "^  lim,  can 
be  best  understood  by  quoting  extracts  from  their  speeches,  and 
the  replies  to  them  by  the  commissioners. 

Previous  to  the  meeting  of  these  commissioners  with  the  In- 
dians, as  proposed.  Major  Trueman  and  Col.  Hardin  left  Fort 
Washington,  with  copies  of  a  speech  from  President  Washington 
to  the  hostile  Indians,  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract: 

Brothers:  The  President  of  the  United  States  entertains  the 
opinion  that  the  war  which  exists  is  founded  in  error  and  mistake 
on  your  parts:  that  you  believe  the  United  States  wants  to  de- 
prive you  of  your  lands,  and  drive  j'ou  out  of  the  country.  Be 
assured  this  is  not  so:  on  the  contrary,  that  we  should  be  greatly 
gratified  with  the  opportunity  of  imparting  to  you  all  the  bless- 
ings of  civilized  life,  of  teaching  you  to  cultivate  the  earth,  and 
raise  corn;  to  raise  oxen, nriieep,  and  other  domestic  animals;  to 
build  comfortable  Infuse*,  and  to  educate  your  children,  so  as  ever 
to  dwell  upon  the  land.  War,  at  all  times,  is  a  dreadful  evil  to 
those  who  are  engaged  therein,  and  more  particularly  so  where  a 
few  people  engaged  to  act  against  so  great  numbers  as  the  people 
of  the  U  nited  States.  Brothers :  Ijo  not  suffer  the  advantages  you 
have  gained  to  mislead  ^our  judgment,  and  influence  you  to  con- 
tinue the  war:  but  reflect  upon  the  destructive  consequences 
which  must  attend  such  a  measure.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  is  highl}'^  desirous  of  seeing  a  number  of  your  principle 
chiefs,  and  convincing  you,  in  person,  how  much  he  wishes  to 
avoid  the  evils  of  war  for  your  sake,  and  the  sake  of  humanity. 
Consult,  therefore,  upon  the  great  object  of  peace;  call  in  your 
parties,  and  enjoin  a  cessation  ot  all  further  depredations;  and 
as  many  of  the  principal  chiefs  as  shall  choose,  repair  to  Phila- 
delphia, the  seat  of  the  general  government,  and  there  make  a 
peace,  founded  on  the  principles  of  justice  and  humanity.  Re- 
member that  no  additional  lands  will  be  required  of  you,  or  any 
other  tribe,  to  those  that  h;ive  been  ceded  by  former  treatie»,  par- 
ticularly by  the  tribes  who  liad  a  right  to  make  the  treaty  of 
Muskingum,  [Fort  Ilarmar,]  in  the  year  I78y.     But,  if  any  of 


The  Indvim  Demand  the  Ohio  as  a  Boundary.        20a 

your  tribes  can  prove  that  you  have  a  fair  right  to  any  lands 
compreliended  by  the  said  treaty,  and  have  not  been  compensated 
therefor,  you  shall  receive  a  full  satisfaction  upon  that  head.  The 
chiefs  you  send  shall  be  safely  escorted  to  this  city;  and  shall  be 
well  fed  and  provided  with  all  things  for  their  journey,  *  * 
Come,  then,  and  be  convinced  for  yourselves,  of  the  beneficence 
of  General  Washington,  the  great  chief  of  the  United  States,  and 
afterward  return  and  spread  the  glad  tidings  of  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  the  Indians  to  the  setting  sun." 

The  council  was  opened  on  the  30th  of  July,  by  Simon  Girty, 
interpreter,  who  presented,  in  behalf  of  the  Indians,  the  following 
paper  to  the  commissioners: 

"  To  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States.  Bkotheks: 
The  deputies  we  sent  to  you  did  not  fully  explain  our  meaning; 
we  have  therefore  sent  others,  to  meet  you  once  more,  that  you 
may  fully  understand  the  great  question  we  have  to  ask  of  you^ 
and  to  which  we  expect  an  explicit  answer  in  writing.  Brothers: 
You  are  sent  here  by  the  United  States,  in  order  to  make  peace 
with  us,  the  confederate  Indians.  Brothers:  You  know  very 
well  that  the  boundary  line,  which  was  run  between  the  white 
people  and  us,  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  was  the  river  Ohio. 
Brothers'  If  you  seriously  design  to  make  a  firm  and  lasting 
peace,  you  will  immediately  remove  all  your  people  from  our 
Bide  of  that  river.  Brothers:  We  therefore  ask  you,  are  you  fully 
authorized  by  the  United  States  to  continue,  and  firmly  fix  on  the 
Ohio  river  as  the  boundary  line  between  your  people  and  ours? 
Done  in  general  council  at  the  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  27th 
July,  1793,  in  behalf  of  ourselves,  and  the  whole  confederacy^ 
and  agreed  to  in  a  full  council." 

To  this  opening  of  the  case  the  commissioners  replied: 

"  Brothers:  We  do  know  very  well,  that  at  the  treaty  of  Fort 
Stanwix,  twenty-jive  years  ago,  the  river  Ohio  was  agreed  on  as 
the  boundary  line  between  you  and  the  white  people  of  the  Brit- 
ish colonies;  and  we  all  know  that,  about  seven  years  after  that 
boundary  was  fixed,  a  quarrel  broke  out  between  your  father,  the 
King  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  people  of  those  colonies,  wliich 
are  now  the  United  States.  This  quarrel  was  ended  by  the  treaty 
of  peace,  made  with  the  King,  about  ten  years  ago,  by  wliich  the 
Great  lakes,  and  the  waters  which  unite  them  were,  by  him, 
declared  to  be  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 

"Brothers:  Peace  having  been  thus  made  between  the  King 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  it  remained  to  make 
peace  between  them  and  the  Indian  nations  who  had  ia'.en  part 
with  the  King;  fortius  purpose,  commissioners  were  appointed, 
who  sent  messages  to  all  those  Indian  nations,  inviting  them  ta 


Indian  Tenna  Not  Entertained. 


%e  and  make  peace,  Tlie  first  treaty  was  held  about  nine 
,r8  ago,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  with  the  Six  Nations,  which  has  stood 
n  and  nnviolated  to  this  day.  The  next  treaty  was  made  about 
ety  days  after,  at  Fort  Mcintosh,  with  the  half  king  of  the 
,'andots.  Captain  Pipe,  and  other  chiefs,  in  behalf  of  the 
i^andot,  Delaware,  Ottawa,  and  Chippewa  nations.  Afterward 
ities  were  made  with  divers  Indian  nations  south  of  the  Ohio 
sr;  and  the  next  treaty  was  made  with  Ka-kia-pilathy,  here 
sent,  and  other  Shawnee  chiefs,  in  behalf  of  the  Shawnee 
ion,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  which  runs  into  the 
io. 

'  Erothers:  The  commissioners  who  conducted  the  treaties  in 
lalf  of  the  United  States,  sent  the  papers  containing  them  to 

great  council  of  the  States,  who,  supposing  them  satisfactory 
he  nations  treated  with,  proceeded  to  dispose  of  large  tracts 
land  thereby  ceded,  and  a  great  number  of  people  removed 
ru  other  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  settled  upon  them; 
)  many  families  of  your  ancient  fathers,  the  French,  came  over 

great  waters,  and  settled  upon  a  part  of  the  same  l^nds.* 
'Brothers:  After  some  time,  it  appeared  that  a  n^  .ber  of 
iple  in  your  nations  were  dissatisfied  with  the  treaties  of  Fort 
Intosli  and  Miami;  therefore  the  great  council  of  the  United 
tes  appointed  Governor  St.  Clair  their  commissioner,  with  full 
vers,  for  the  purpose  of  removing  all  causes  of  controversy,  regu- 
ng  trade,  and  settling  boundaries,  between  the  Indian  nations 
:he  northern  department  and  the  United  States.  He  accordingly 
t  messages,  inviting  all  the  nations  concerned  to  meet  him  at 
ouncil  fire  which  he  kindled  at  the  falls  of  the  Muskingum. 
lile  he  was  waiting  for  them,  some  mischief  happened  at  that 
ce,  and  the  fire  was  put  out;  so  he  kindled  a  council  fire  at 
rt  liarmar,  where  near  six  hundred  Indians,  of  difi'erent 
ions,  attended.     The  Six  Nations  then  renewed  and  confirmed 

treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix;  and  tl.3  Wyandots  and  Delawares 
ewed  and  confirmed  the  treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh:  some  Otta- 
s,  Chippewas,  Pottawattomies,  and  Sacs,  were  also  parties  to 
!  treaty  of  Fort  Harmar. 

'  Brothers:  All  these  treaties  we  have  here  with  us.  We  have 
3  the  speeches  of  many  chiefs  who  attended  them,  and  who 
untarily  declared  their  satisfaction  with  the  ternr.s  of  the 
aties. 

'Brothers:  After  making  all  these  treaties,  and  after  hearing 
:  chiefs  express  freely  their  satisfaction  with  them,  the  United 
ites  expected  to  enjoy  peace,  and  quietly  to  hold  the  lands 
k'd  by  them.     Accordingly,  largo  tracts  have  been  sold  and  set- 

The  French  settlement  at  Gallipolis. 


Claims  Under  Old  Treaties  Pressed.  205 

tied,  as  before  mer^ioned.  And  now,  brothers,  we  answer  explic- 
itly, that,  for  tlie  '  isons  here  stated  to  you,  it  -is  impossible  to 
make  the  river  Ohio  the  boundary  hetxoecn  your ;peoj>le  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

"Brothers:  You  are  men  of  understanding,  and  if  you  con- 
sider the  customs  of  white  people,  the  great  expenses  which 
attend  their  settling  in  a  new  country,  the  nature  oftheir  improve- 
ments, in  building  houses  and  barns,  and  clearing  and  leneing 
their  lands,  how  valuable  the  lands  are  thus  rendered,  and 
thence  how  dear  they  are  to  them,  you  will  see  that  it  is 
now  impracticable  to  remove  our  people  from  the  northern  side 
of  the  Oiiio.  Your  brothers,  the  English,  know  the  nature  of 
white  people,  and  they  know  that,  under  the  circumstances  wliich 
we  have  mentioned,  the  United  States  can  not  make  the  Ohio  the 
boundary  between  you  and  us. 

"Brothers:  You  seem  to  consider  all  the  lands  in  dispute  on 
your  eide  of  the  Ohio,  as  claimed  by  the  United  States;  but 
suffer  us  to  remind  you  that  a  large  tract  was  sold  by  the 
Wyandot  and  Delaware  nations  to  the  State  of  Pennsylva- 
nia. This  tract  lies  east  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  month 
of  Beaver  creek,  at  the  Ohio,  due  north  to  lake  Erie.  This 
line  is  the  western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  as  claimed  under 
the  charter  given  by  the  king  of  England  to  your  ancient  friend, 
William  Penn;  of  this  sale,  made  by  the  Wj^andot  and  Dela- 
ware nations  to  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  we  have  never  heard 
any  complaint. 

"  Brothers:  The  concessions  which  we  think  necessary  on  your 
part  are,  that  you  yield  up,  and  finally  relinquish  to  the  United 
States,  some  of  the  lands  on  your  side  of  the  river  Ohio.  The 
United  States  wish  to  have  confirmed  all  the  lands  ceded  to  them 
hythe  treaty  of  Fort  llarmar;  and^  also,  a  small  tract  of  land 
at  the  rapids  of  the  Ohio,  claimed  hy  General  Clark,  for  the  use 
of  himself  and  warriors;  and,  in  consideration  tlicrcof,  the 
United  States  would  give  sttch  a  large  sum,  in  money  or  goods, 
as  was  never  given  at  one  time,  for  any  quantity  of  Indian 
lairds,  since  the  white  "people first  set  their  foot  on  this  inland. 
And,  because  those  lands  did,  every  year,  furnish  yon  with  skins 
and  furs,  with  which  you  bought  clothing  and  other  necessaries, 
tlie  United  States  will  now  furnish  the  like  constant  supplies; 
and,  therefore,  besides  the  great  sum  to  be  delivered  at  once, 
they  will,  every  year,  deliver  yon  a  large  (|uantity  of  such  goods 
as  are  best  suited  to  the  wants  of  yourselves,  your  women,  and 
children." 

To  these  overtures  of  the  commissioners  tlie  Indians  replied: 

Brotliers:  It  is  now  three  years  since  you  desired  to  speak 


Tenacious  Logic  of  the  Indiana. 

i  ns.  We  heard  you  yesterday,  and  understood  you  well— 
iectly  well.  We  have  a  few  words  to  say  to  you.  Brothers: 
[  mentioned  the  treaties  of  Fort  Stanwix,  Beaver  Creek,*  and 
ir  places.  Those  treaties  were  not  complete.  There  were  but 
iv  chiefs  who  treated  with  you.  You  have  not  bought  our 
is.  They  belong  to  us.  You  tried  to  draw  off  some  of  ua. 
thers:  Many  years  ago,  we  all  know  that  the  Ohio  was  made 
boujidary.  It  was  settled  by  Sir  William  Johnston.  This 
is  ours.  We  look  upon  it  as  our  property.  Brothers:  You 
tioned  General  Washington.  He  and  j'ou  know  you  have 
r  houses  and  your  people  on  our  land.  You  say  you  can  not 
e  them  off:  and  we  can  not  give  up  our  land.  Brothers:  We 
sorry  we  can  not  come  to  an  agreement.  The  line  has  been 
1  long  ago.  Brothers:  We  don't  sav  much.  There  has  beeu 
h  mischief  on  both  sides.  We  came  here  upon  peace,  and 
ight  you  did  the  same.     We  shall  talk  to  our  head  warriori*. 

may  return  whence  you  came,  and  tell  Washington." 
The  council  here  breaking  up,  Captain  Elliot  went  to  the 
fvnee  chief  Ka-kia-pilathy,  and  told  him  that  the  last  part  of 
speech  was  wrong.  That  chief  came  back,  and  said  it  was 
ig.  Girty  said  that  he  had  interpreted  truly  what  the  Wyau- 
chief  spoke.  An  explanation  took  place;  and  Girty  added 
illows:  'Brothers:  Instead  of  going  home,  we  v/ish  you  lo 
ain  here  for  an  answer  from  us.  We  have  your  speech  in 
breasts,  and  shall  consult  our  head  warriors.'  The  depnta- 
of  Indians  were  then  told  that  the  commissioners  would 
.  to  hear  again  from  the  council  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee." 
On  the  16th  of  August,  1793,  Messrs.   Lincoln,  Randolph, 

Pickering,  received  the  following  answer  (in  writing),  to 
r  speech  of  the  31st  of  July: 

To  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States.  Brothers:  We 
J  received  your  speech,  dated  tlie  3l8t  of  last  month,  and 
as  been  interpreted  to  all  the  different  nations.  We  have 
I  long  in  sending  you  an  answer,  because  of  the  great  impop- 
e  of  the  subject.  But  we  now  answer  it  fully;  having  given 
1  the  consideration  in  our  power. 

Brothers:  You  tell  us  that,  after  you  had  made  peace  with  the 
g,  our  lather,  about  ten  years  ago, '  it  remained  to  make  peace 
vQcn  the  United  States  and  the  Indian  nations  who  had  taken 
.  with  the  King.  For  this  purpose,  commissioners  were 
)inted,  who  sent  messages  to  all  those  Indian  nations,  invit- 
thein  to  come  and  make  peace; '  and,  after  reciting  the  peri- 
at  which  yon  say  treaties  were  held,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  Fort 
jitosh  and  Miami,  all  which  treaties,  according  to  your  own 

ort  Mcintosh. 


'  Deeisive  Indian  Logic.  207 

acknowledgment,  were  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  peace,  you 
then  say:  'Brothers,  the  commissioners  who  conducted  these 
treaties,  in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  sent  the  papers  contain- 
ing them  to  the  general  council  of  the  States,  who,  supposing 
them  satisfactory  to  the  nations  treated  with,  proceeded  to  dispose 
of  tho  lands  thereby  ceded.' 

"  Brothers:  "  This  is  telling  us  plainly,  what  we  always  under- 
etood  to  be  the  case,  and  it  agrees  with  the  declarations  of  tliose 
few  who  attended  those  treaties,  viz:  That  they  went  to  meet 
your  commissioners  to  make  peace,'  but,  through  fear,  were 
oUiged  to  sign  any  paper  that  was  laid  before  them;  and  it  has 
since  appeared  that  deeds  of  cession  were  signed  by  them,  instead 
"of  treaties  of  peace. 

"Brothers:  Money,  tons,  is  of  no  value;  and  to  most  of  us 
unknown:  and,  as  no  consideration  whatever  can  induce  us  to 
sell  the  lands  on  which  we  get  sustenance  for  our  women  and 
children,  we  hope  we  may  be  allowed  to  point  out  a  mode  by 
which  your  settlers  m.ay  be  eanly  removed,  and  peace  thereby 
obtained. 

Brothers:  "We  know  that  these  settlers  are  poor,  or  they 
would  never  have  ventured  to  live  in  a  country  which  has  been 
in  continual  trouble  ever  since  they  crossed  the  Ohio.  Divide, 
therefore,  this  large  sum  of  money,  which  you  have  offered  to 
us,  among  these  people.  Give  to  each,  also,  a  proportion  of 
what  you  say  you  would  give  to  us,  annually,  over  and  above 
this  very  large  sum,  of  money;  and  tve  are  persuaded  they  would 
'most  readily  accept  of  it,  in  lieu  of  the  lands  you  sold  them. 
If  you  add,  also,  the  great  sums  you  must  expend  in  raising  and 
paying  armies,  with  a  view  to  force  us  to  yield  you  our  country, 
you  will  certainly  have  more  than  sutHcient  for  the  purposes  of 
repaying  these  settlers  for  all  their  labor  and  their  improvements. 

"Brothers:  You  have  talked  to  us  about  concessions.  It 
appears  strange  that  you  should  expect  any  from  us,  who  have 
only  been  defending  our  just  rights  against  your  invasions.  We 
want  peace.  Restore  to  us  our  country,  and  we  shall  be  enemies 
no  longer. 

"  Brothers:  You  roake  one  concession  to  us  by  offering  us  your 
money;  and  another,  by  having  agreed  to  do  us  justice  after 
having  long  and  injuriously  withheld  it.  We  mean,  in  the 
acknowledgment  you  have  now  made,  that  the  king  of  England 
never  did,  nor  ever  had  a  right,  to  give  yon  our  country,  by  the 
treaty  of  peace.  And  you  want  to  make  this  act  of  common 
justice  a  great  part  of  your  concessions;  and  seem  to  expect 
that,  because  you  have  at  last  acknowledged  our  inde^M^ndence, 
we  should,  for  Buch  a  favor,  surrender  to  you  our  countrjr. 


208  The   Ultimatum. 

"Brothers:  You  have  talked  also  a  great  deal  about  preemp- 
tion, and  your  exclusive  right  to  purchase  Indian  lands,  as  ceded 
to  you  by  the  king  at  the  treaty  ot  peace. 

"Brothers:  We  never  made  any  agreement  with  the  king,  nor 
with  any  other  nation,  that  we  would  give  to  either  the  exclusive 
right  of  purchasing  our  lands.  And  we  declare  to  you,  that  we 
consider  ourselves  free  to  make  any  bargain  or  cession  of  lands 
whenever  and  to  whomsoever  we  please.  If  the  white  people,  as 
you  say,  made  a  treaty  that  none  of  them  but  the  king  should 
purchase  of  us,  and  that  he  has  given  that  right  to  the  United 
States,  it  is  an  affair  which  concerns  you  and  him,  and  not  us. 
We  have  never  parted  with  such  a  power. 

"  Brothers:  At  our  general  council  held  at  the  Glaize  last  fail, 
we  agreed  to  meet  commissioners  from  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  restoring  peace,  provided  they  consented  to  acknowl- 
edge and  confirm  our  boundary  line  to  be  the  Ohio;  and  we 
determined  not  to  meet  you  until  you  gave  us  satisfaction  on 
that  point.  That  is  the  reason  we  have  never  met.  We  desire 
you  to  consider,  brothers,  that  our  only  demand  is  the  peaceable 
possession  of  a  small  part  of  onr  once  great  country.  Look 
oack,  and  review  the  lands  from  whence  we  have  been  driven  to 
this  spot.  We  can  retreat  no  farther,  because  the  country  behind 
hardly  affords  food  for  its  present  inhabitants ;  and  we  have,  there- 
fore, resolved  to  leave  our  bones  in  this  small  space  to  which  we 
are  now  confined. 

"Brothers:  We  shall  be  persuaded  that  you  mean  to  do  us 
justice,  if  you  agree  that  the  Ohio  shall  remain  the  boundary  line 
between  us.  If  you  will  not  consent  thereto,  our  meeting  will  be 
altogether  unnecessary.  This  is  the  great  point  which  we  hoped 
would  have  been  explained  before  you  left  your  homes,  as  our 
message,  last  fall,  was  principally  directed  to  obtain  that  inform- 
ation. 

"  Done  in  general  council,  at  Jie  foot  of  the  Maumee  Rapids, 
the  13th  day  of  August,  1793." 

It  was  now  evident  that  the  council  would  prove  a  failure,  as 
the  terms  of  the  Indians  were  inadmissible.  The  commissioners 
tlierefore  made  the  following  declaration,  and  the  session  ad- 
journed without  effecting  its  purpose,  each  party  departing,  not 
wirliout  painful  regrets,  to  renew  a  conflict  desperate  on  the  part 
of  tlie  lnfli;in-,  and  doubtful  on  ihe  pstrt  of  the  whites: 

"  To  the  Chiefs  and  Warrioi's  of  the  Indian  Nations  assein- 
hled  at  the  foot  of  the  Maxnaee  Rapids:  Brothers:  We  iiave 
just  received  your  answer,  dated  the  13th  instant,  to  our  speech 
of  the  31st  of  last  month,  which  we  deliverd  to  your  deputies  at 
this  place.    You  say  it  was  interpreted  to  all  your  nations,  and 


The  Council  Ends.  209 

wo  presume  it  was  fullj  understood.  We  therein  explicitly  de- 
clared to  you,  that  it  was  now  impossible  to  make  the  river  Ohio 
the  hounfJary  between  your  lands  and  the  lands  of  the  United 
States.  Your  answer  amounts  to  a  declaration  that  you  will 
agree  to  no  other  boundary  than  the  Ohio.  The  negotiation  is» 
tlierefore,  at  an  end.  AVe  sincerely  regret  that  peace  is  not  the 
result;  but,  knowing  the  upright  and  liberal  views  of  the  United 
States — which,  as  far  as  you  gave  us  an  opportunity,  we  have 
explained  to  you — we  trust  that  impartial  judges  will  not  attri- 
bute the  continuance  of  the  war  to  them. 

"Done  at  Captain  Elliott's,  at  the  mouth  of  Detroit  river,  tho 
IGth  day  of  Au<rust,  1793. 

BENJAMIN"  LINCOLN,       )      Commissioners 
BEVERLEY  RANDOLPH,  \  of  the 

TIMOTHY  PICKERING,     )     United  States." 

Tlie  council,  which  had  heen  in  session  seventeen  days,  ending 
in  failure,  the  commissioners  made  all  haste  to  Ft.  Erie  in  Pemi- 
Bylvania,  which  was  then  the  outermost  post  of  the  Americans 
on  the  lakes.  From  there  they  sent  the  news  of  their  unsuccess- 
ful mission  to  General  Wayne,  then  waiting  the  issue  at  Ft.  Wash- 
ington. In  justice  to  the  English,  it  should  not  be  omitted  that 
they  extended  exemplary  courtesy  to  the  American  commission- 
ers in  providing  the  means  of  transportation  to  and  from  tho 
place  where  the  council  was  held,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee, 
as  well  as  by  other  marks  of  respect  from  Governor  Simcoc 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Genet,  the  Minister  of  the  New  French  Bepiiblic,  Sent  to  the 
United  States — Abuse  of  his  Power  Dangerous  to  America — 
He  is  Recalled  at  the  Request  of  Jefferson — General  Wayne 
marches  against  the  Indians — Builds  Fort  Recovery — The 
Indians  Attach  the  Place — Are  Repulsed — Evidence  of  En- 
glish Complicity  with  the  Indian  Cause — General  Wayne  Ad- 
vances to  the  Saint  Mary's  River — Sends  Peace  Proposals  to 
Little  Turtle — He  ^dishes  to  accept  them,  hut  is  Overruled  iji 
the  Cotmcil — A  Decisive  Battle  Ensues — General  Wayne  un- 

.  der  the  Guns  of  the  English  Fort — The  English  Commander 
TaTces  Offense — An  angry  C on^espondence  "Ensues — English 
View  of  the  Case — Fort  Wayne  Built — Treaty  of  Greenville — 
Little  Turtle's  Honorable  Record — His  deathr—Public  Honors 
to  his  Memory — The  Free  Navigation  of  the  Mississijppi 
conceded  hy  Spain — The  English  give  up  the  American 
Posts  on  theLakes — Cleveland  Settled. 

A  little  before  midniglit,  August  1st,  1793,  two  officers  of  the 
French  Revolutionary  government,  entered  the  apartments  of 
Marie  Antoinette  and  aroused  her  from  a  disquiet  sleep.  From 
there  she  was  conducted  to  a  still  closer  confinement  in  a  prison 
cell,  eight  feet  long,  furnished  only  with  a  bed  of  straw.  On  the 
16th  ot  October  she  was  executed,  and  her  head  severed  from 
her  body,  was  held  up  to  the  view  c  f  the  thousands  assembled 
there  to  "see  the  blood  of  their  queen  (whose  graces  had  charmed 
the  courts  of  Europe,)  dripping  over  the  bare  arms  of  her  execu- 
tioner. These  and  other  excesses  of  the  Revolutionary  govern- 
ment, caused  an  immediate  declaration  of  war  by  England, 
Holland,  Spain,  Portugal,  Austria,  Prussia,  Sardinia,  Peidmont, 
the  Two  Sicilies  and  the  Roman  States,  against  France.  On  the 
8th  of  April,  1793,  Genet,  the  Minister  of  the  new  French 
Republic,  which  had  accomplished  these  political  tragedies, 
arrived  in  the  United  States.  He  was  received  with  enthusiasm 
as  a  fitting  memorial  of  gratitude  for  the  timely  services  of 
France,  bo  recently  rendered  to  the  United  States  in  its  struggle 


French  Minister  Readied.  211 

for  liberty,  for  the  people,  in  their  blind  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Ee- 
pnblicaiiisni,  did  not  stop  to  call  in  question  the  means  by  which 
it  was  obtained.  It  was  confidently  expected  by  Genet,  that  the 
United  States  would  make  common  cause  witli  Frauce,  in  her 
headlonoj  career  of  revolution,  which  at  one  time  threatened  to 
sweep  through  Europe,  and  the  tempting  prize  which  lie  held 
forth  to  the  American  people,  to  secure  their  co-operation,  was 
well  calculated  to  make  them  set  their  feet  into  the  treacherous 
snare,  and  would  have  succeeded  but  for  the  discernment  of  the 
Fathers  of  our  Republic,  particularly  Washington,  Adams  and 
Jay.  Entering  w^ith  masterly  zeal  upon  his  labors,  with  ar» 
overstrain    perhaps   not    inconsistent    with   the   genius   of   his 

fovernment,  Genet  abused  his  prerogatives  by  fitting  out 
'rench  vessels  on  American  waters,  by  establishing  recruiting 
quarters  in  South  Carolina,  to  raise  troops  for  the  invasion  of  the 
Spanish  possessions  of  Florida,  and  also  recruiting  quarters  in 
Kentucky  to  raise  troops  for  the  invasion  of  Spanish  territoiy 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  with  a  view  to  open  that  stream  for  the 
free  navigation  of  Western  Commerce.  The  latter  was  a  very 
popular  measure  among  the  Kentuckians,  and  it  required  the 
utmost  exertions  of  the  American  cabinet  to  circumvent  the 
designs  of  Genet,  which  if  allowed  to  go  on,  would  have  involved 
us  in  a  war  with  Spain.  It  is  equally  certain  also,  that  England 
would  have  declared  war  against  us  if  Genet  had  succeeded  in  his 
designs  of  invading  Spanish  territory  with  American  troops,  for 
Spain  was  then  the  active  ally  of  England  against  France,  in  which 
case  the  English  forces  in  Canada  would  have  made  common 
cause  with  Little  Turtle,  who  with  the  Spanish  soldiers  from  New 
Orleans  added  to  them,  could  have  driven  everj'  American  settler 
out  of  the  country  Avest  of  the  Ohio.  To  guard  against  these 
calamities,  Washington  determined  to  issue  a  proclamation,  warn- 
ing the  Western  people  against  enlisting  in  the  service  against 
the  Spaniards,  and  Jefferson.  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  a  letter  to 
Gouveraeur  Morris,  our  Minister  to  France,  requesting  the 
removal  of  Genet.  This  prompt  action  was  taken  while  Genet 
was  very  popular  among  the  masses  in  America,  having  secured 
their  favour  by  promising  not  only  to  open  the  free  nav.gation 
of  the  Mississippi,  but  also  proposing  to  pay  off  the  American 
debt  by  purchasing  provisions  for  ths  French  soldiers  while  they 
were  engaged  in  dethroning  the  monarchs  of  Europe.  But  ere  all 
this  was  accomplished  he  was  re-called  from  his  post,  and  Mr. 
Fauchet  substituted  in  his  place.  The  new  minister  soon  made 
amends  for  the  high-handed  manner  by  which  his  predecessor  had 
assumed  responsibilities  too  grave  even  for  the  Father  of  hia 
country.  That  the  timely  removal  of  Genet  saved  America  from 
a  war  with  England  and  Spain  is  evident,  from  the  fact  that  dur 


212  Gen.  Wayne  Marches  Against  the  Indians. 

ing  the  height  of  his  career  in  the  West,  Governor  Sinicoe,  of 
Canada,  was  ordered  by  tlie  English  Parh'anient  to  bnild  a  fort  at 
the  Maninee  Rapids,  about  twenty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  that 
stream,  in  the  heart  of  the  Indian  countr}^,  and  far  within  the 
limits  of  American  territory,  as  settled  by  the  treaty  of  1783,  a 
measure  doubtless  taken  under  conviction  tiiat  war  with  the 
United  States  would  soon  be  declared.  A  special  messenger  from 
the  Spanish  provinces  visited  the  hostile  tribes  at  the  same  time, 
oftering  them  assistance. 

While  this  indecision  marked  the  councils  of  the  English  and 
Spanish,  a  respectable  force  had  gathered  at  Fort  Washington, 
and  were  encamped  below  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  river.  Con- 
gress had  passed  an  act  to  raise  5,000  men  for  the  expedition,  but 
owing  to  reluctance  in  enlisting,  sickness  and  desertion,  Wayne's 
army  numbered  no  more  than  3,600  men.  Meantime  it  was  all 
important  that  the  offensive  should  be  taken  as  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  the  late  negotiations  for  peace  had  resulted  in 
failure.  Accordingly  Wayne  took  up  his  march  by  the  way  of 
Forts  Hamilton  and  Jefferson,  an(i  reached  the  vicinity  of  the 
U])per  tributaries  of  the  Wabash  and  also  the  Big  Miami  on  the 
24th  of  December,  1793.  Here  he  built  Fort  Greenville,  which 
he  made  his  winter  quarters. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  here,  he  sent  a  strong  detachment  to  the 
battle  ground  of  the  unfortunate  St.  Clair,  which  was  but  a  short 
distance  from  Fort  Greenville,  where  he  built  Fort  Kecovery. 
Here  the  bones  of  the  slain  which  had  been  mouldering  in  the 
forest  shades  for  two  years,  were  gathered  together  and  buried. 

The  wi  \ter  was  spent  in  the  necessary  work  of  drilling  and 
discipliniiig  the  troops,  no  enemy  making  their  appearance  till 
the  30th  of  June,  1794,  when  a  heavy  force  of  Indians,  assisted  by 
50  Canadian  British  subjects,  made  a  furious  attack  on  Fort  Re- 
covery. The  action  was  very  obstinate  and  resulted  in  severe 
losses  on  both  sides,  but  the  fort  was  not  taken,  and  the  Indians 
fell  back  to  the  main  bodj'. 

Just  before  this  action,  two  Pottowattomies  had  been  taken 
prisoners  by  Captain  Gibson,  and  in  reply  to  questions  as  to  ex- 
pectations of  assistance,  answered  as  follows: 

Q.  When  did  your  nation  receive  the  invitation  from  the 
British  to  join  them,  and  go  to  war  with  the  Americans? 

A.  On  the  first  of  the  last  moon ;  the  message  was  sent  by 
tlu'ee  chiefs — a  Delaware,  a  Shawanee,  and  a  Miami. 

Q.  What  was  the  message  brought  by  those  Indian  chiefs, 
and  what  number  of  British  troops  were  at  Roch.e  de  Bout  (foot 
of  rapids  of  the  Maumee)  on  the  first  day  of  May? 

A.  That  the  British  sent  them  to  invite  the  Fottawatomies  tx> 
go  to  war  against  the  United  States;  that  they,  the  British,  were 


Indian  Testimony,  213 

then  at  Roche  de  Bout,  on  their  way  to  war  against  the  Ameri- 
•cans;  that  the  number  of  British  troops  then  tliere  were  about 
four  hundred,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery,  exclusive  of  the  De- 
troit militia,  atid  had  made  a  fortification  round  Col.  McKee's 
house  and  stores  at  that  place,  in  which  they  had  deposited  all 
their  stores  of  ammunition,  arms,  clothing  and  provision,  with 
which  they  promised  to  su])ply  all  the  hostile  Indians  in  abun- 
•dance,  provided  they  would  join  and  go  with  them  to  war. 

Q.  What  tribes  of  Indians,  and  what  were  their  numbers,  at 
.at  Koche  de  Bout  on  the  first  of  May? 

A.  The  Chippewas,  Wyandot?,  Shawanese,  Tawas,  Delawares 
:and  Miamis.  There  were  then  collected  about  one  thousand  war- 
riors, and  were  daily  coming  in  and  collecting  from  all  those  na- 
tions. 

Q.  What  number  of  warriors  do  you  suppose  actually  col- 
lected at  that  place  at  this  time,  and  what  number  of  British 
troops  and  militia  have  promised  to  join  the  Indians  to  fight  this 
army  ? 

A.  By  the  latest  and  best  information,  and  from  our  ovm 
knowledge  of  the  number  of  warriors  belonging  to  those  nations, 
there  cannot  be  less  than  two  thousand  warriors  now  assembled; 
4ind  were  the  Pottawattomies  to  join,  agreeably  to  invitation,  the 
whole  would  amount  to  upwards  of  three  thousand  hostile  Indians. 
But  we  do  not  think  that  more  than  fifty  of  the  Pottawatoraiea 
>vill  go  to  war. 

The  British  troops  and  militia  that  will  join  the  Indians  to  go 
to  war  against  the  Americans,  will  amount  to  fifteen  hundred, 
agreeably  to  the  promise  of  Gov.  Simcoe. 

Q.  At  what  time  and  at  what  place  do  the  British  and  Indians 
mean  to  advance  aarainst  this  armv? 

A.  About  the  last  of  this  moon,  or  the  beginning  of  the  next, 
tliey  intend  to  attack  the  legion  of  this  place.  Gov.  Simcoe,  the 
great  man  who  lives  at  or  near  Niagara,  sent  for  the  Pottawat- 
oinies,  and  promised  them  arms,  ammunition,  provisions  and 
•clothing,  and  everything  they  wanted,  on  condition  that  they 
would  join  him,  and  go  to  war  against  the  Americans,  and  that 
he  would  command  the  whole.  He  sent  us  the  same  message 
last  wintei',  and  again  on  the  first  of  the  last  moon,  from  Roche 
"deBout;  he  also  said  he  was  much  obliged  to  us  for  our  past  ser- 
vices, and  that  he  would  now  help  us  to  fight  and  render  us  all 
the  services  in  his  power  against  the  Americans.  All  the  speeches 
that  we  have  received  from  him,  were  as  red  as  blood;  all  the 
Avampum  and  feathers  were  painted  red;  the  war  pi[ies  and  liatch- 
•«ts  were  red,  and  even  the  tobacco  was  painted  red.  We  received 
four  difi^erent  invitations  from  Gov.  Simcoe,  inviting  the  Pot- 
*.r.-'.-at«)mi(\^  to  join  in  the  war;  the  las^t  was  on  the  first  of  last 


214  Wayne's   Victory. 

moon,  when  he  promised  to  join  ns  witli  1,500  of  liis  warriors,  as 
before  meutioned.  But  we  wished  for  peace,  except  a  lew  of  our 
foolish  young  men. 

Examined  and  carefully  reduced  to  writing,  at  Greenville,  this 
7th of  June,  1794* 

On  the  28th  of  July  following.  General  "Wayne  commenced  a 
forward  movement,  reaching  the  St.  Mary's  river  on  the  1st  of 
August.  On  the  8th  he  arrived  at  the  south  branch  of  the  Mau- 
mee,  and  continuing  his  course  down  its  banks,  he  came  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  Kapids  on  the  20th,  where  the  British  fort  was 
visible,  around  which  the  Indian  army  under  Little  Turtle  were 
hovering,  not  without  hopes  of  assistance.  Ilis  entire  army  were 
concealed  among  the  prostrated  trees  of  the  forest,  which  a  tor- 
nado had  leveled  to  the  ground  a  few  years  before,  where  this  dis- 
tinguished chief  was  deoating  in  his  own  mind  what  was  the 
best  course  to  pursue.  *  *  Gen.  Wayne  had  just  sent  peace- 
proposals  to  Little  Turtle. 

"  We  have  beaten  the  enemy  twic«  under  separate  command- 
ers, and  we  cannot  expect  the  same  good  fortune  always  to  attend 
Tis,"  said  the  cautious  veteran  to  his  chiefs.  Continuing,  he  says: 
"The  Americans  are  now  led  by  a  chief  who  ne\-er  sleeps;  the 
night  and  day  arealike  to  him;  and  during  all  the  time  that  he 
has  been  marching  upon  our  villages,  notwithstanding  the  watch- 
fulness of  our  young  men,  we  have  never  been  able  to  surprise- 
him.  Think  well  of  it.  There  is  bumething  whispers  me  it 
would  be  prudent  to  listen  to  his  offers  of  peace." 

This  wise  counsel  was  disregarded  iy  the  other  chiefs,  and  Lit- 
tle Turtle  was  forced  to  battle,  lest  he  m^ght  rest  under  the  im- 
putation of  cowardice. 

On  the  20th  of  August,  General  Wayne  came  upon  the  army 
of  Little  Turtle,  who  were  concealed  among  the  fallen  trees  a  few 
miles  from  the  British  fort.  The  Indians  were  routed,  although 
they  fought  with  masterly  courage;  but  they  could  not  stand 
against  the  furious  bayonet  charge  made  against  them  hy  Wayne's 
soldiers.  In  their  flight  they  pressed  towards  the  British  fort, 
hoping,  doubtless,  to  lind  protection  within  its  walls,  but  the 

fates  were  shut  in  the  faces  of  the  wretched  fugitives,  and  they 
ed  thence  to  the  covert  of  the  forest. 

After  the  battle,  Gen.  Wayne  destroyed  their  fields  of  corn  on 
the  Maumee.     Says  he,  in  his  report: 

"The  very  extensive  and  highly  cultivated  fields  and  gardens 
show  the  work  of  many  hands.  The  margin  of  these  beautiful 
rivers.  The  Miamis  of  the  lake  (or  Maumee)  and  Au  Glaize 
appear  like  a  continued  village  for  a  number  of  miles,  both  above 

•American  State  Paper? ,  V.  489. 


English  View  of  the  Situation.  215 

and  below  this  place.  Nor  have  I  ever  before  beheld  such 
immense  fields  of  corn  in  any  part  of  America  from  Canada  to 
Florida." 

After  the  battle,  Col.  Campbell,  the  commander  of  the  British 
fort,  addressed  General  Wayne  a  note,  protesting  against  the 
near  approach  of  the  Americans,  who  were  then  within  the 
reach  of  his  guns.  A  spicy  correspondence  ensued,  more  noted 
for  keen  repartee  than  courtesy,  but  happily  no  act  of  hostility 
took  place. 

To  show  the  spirit  which  the  English  evinced  in  building  the  fort, 
and  the  light  in  which  they  viewed  the  position  of  its  commander, 
the  following  is  inserted  from  that  able  representative  of  British 
policy,  Isaac  "Weld,  whose  notes  were  made  during  liis  travels  in 
America  the  next  year,  while  the  excitements  were  at  their 
height: 

"The  Miami  Fort,  situated  on  the  river  of  the  same  name,  was 
built  by  the  English,  in  the  year  1793,  at  which  time  there  was 
some  reason  to  imagine  that  the  disputes  existing  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  would  not  have  been  quite  so  ami- 
cably settled,  perhaps,  as  they  have  been ;  at  least  that  doubtless 
must  have  been  the  opinion  of  government,  otherwise  they  would 
not  have  given  orders  for  the  construction  of  a  fort  within  the 
boundary  line  of  the  United  States,  a  circumstance  which  could 
not  fail  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  people  thereof.  General 
Wayne,  it  would  appear,  had  received  no  positive  orders  from  his 
government  to  make  himself  master  of  it;  could  he  have  gained 
possession  of  it,  however,  by  a  coup-de-main,  without  incurring 
any  loss,  he  thought  that  it  could  not  but  have  been  deemed  an 
acceptable  piece  of  service  by  the  public,  from  whom  he  should 
have  received  unbounded  applause.  Yanity  was  his  ruling  pas- 
sion, and  actuated  by  it  on  this  occasion,  he  resolved  to  try  what 
he  could  do  to  obtain  possession  of  the  fort.  Colonel  Campbell, 
however,  by  his  spirited  and  manly  answer  to  the  summons  tliat 
was  sent,  to  surrender  the  fort  on  account  of  its  being  situated 
within  the  boundary  line  of  the  States,  soon  convinced  the  Amer- 
ican general  that  he  was  not  to  be  shaken  by  his  remonstrances 
or  intimidated  by  his  menaces,  and  that  his  two  hundred  men, 
who  composed  the  garrison,  had  sufficient  resolution  to  resist  the 
attacks  of  his  army  of  three  thousand,  whenever  he  thought 
proper  to  march  against  the  fort.  The  main  division  of  the 
American  army,  at  this  time,  lay  at  the  distance  of  about  four 
miles  from  the  fort;  a  small  detachment  from  it,  however,  was 
concealed  in  the  woods  At  a  very  little  distance  from  the  fort,  to 
be  ready  at  the  call  of  General  Wayne,  who,  strange  to  tell,  when 
he  found  he  was  not  likely  to  get  possession  of  it  in  consequence 
of  the  summons  he  sent,  was  so  imprudent,' and  depai'ted  so  much 


216  The  Indians  Resolve  on  Peace. 

from  the  dii^nity  of  the  general  and  the  character  of  the  soldier, 
as  to  ride  up  to  the  fort,  and  to  use  the  most  gross  and  illiberal 
langnage  to  the  British  soldiers  on  duty  in  it.  Ilis  object  in  do- 
ing 60  was,  I  should  suppose,  to  provoke  the  garrison  to  iire  upon 
hirn,  in  which  case  he  would  have  had  a  pretext  for  storming  the 
fort. 

"  Owing  to  the  great  prudence,  however,  of  Colonel  Campbell, 
who  issued  the  strictest  orders  to  his  men  and  officers  to  remain 
silent,  notwithstanding  any  insults  that  wereotfered  to  them,  and 
not  to  attempt  to  lire,  unless  indeed  an  actual  attack  were  made 
on  tlie  place,  Wayne's  plan  was  frustrated,  much  bloodshed  cer- 
tainly saved,  and  a  second  war  betweeu  Great  Britain  and  Amer- 
ica perhaps  averted. 

"General  Wayne  gained  no  great  personal  honour  by  his  con- 
duct on  this  occasion;  but  the  circumstance  of  his  having  ap- 
peai'ed  before  the  British  fort  in  the  manner  he  did,  operated 
strongly  in  his  favour  in  respect  to  his  proceedings  against  the 
Indians.  These  people  had  been  taught  to  believe,  by  the  young 
Canadians  that  were  amongst  them,  that  if  any  part  of  the  Amer- 
ican army  appeared  before  the  fort  it  would  certainly  be  fired 
upon ;  for  they  had  no  idea  that  the  Americans  would  have  come 
in  sight  of  it  without  taking  offensive  measures,  in  v/hich  case 
resistance  would  certainly  have  been  made.  When,  therefore,  it 
was  heard  that  General  Wayne  had  not  been  fired  upon,  the  In- 
dians complained  grievously  of  their  having  been  deceived,  and  , 
were  greatly  disheartened  on  finding  that  they  were  to  receive  no 
assistance  from  the  British.  Their  native  courage,  however,  did 
not  altogether  forsake  them;  thev  resolved  speedil}''  to  make  a 
stand,  and  accordingly  having  chosen  their  ground,  awaited  the 
arrival  of  General  Wayne,  who  followed  them  closely." 

The  Indians  now  defeated  and  left  without  hope  from  their 
British  friends  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  Americans,  and  the 
alterriative  was  peace  or  starvation,  and  indeed  the  latter  seemed 
imminent,  even  with  peace,  since  the  destruction  of  their 
crops.  But  even  under  the  fatal  duress  of  defeat  and  the  havoc 
of  war,  the  time-honored  custom  of  delil)erate  councils  v/as  not 
departed  from,  for  hasty  diplomacy  is  not  one  of  the  weaknesses 
of  the  Inditn,  and  before  they  could  hold  a  peace  council  with  the 
Americans,  they  held  a  council  among  themselves  at  the  mouth 

In  .justification  of  General  Wayne's  reputation,  it  maybe  proper  to  state  that, 
under  ordinary  circumstances  h  s  conduct  before  the  Briti>n  fort  inipht  have 
bfen  an  excess  of  mi  itary  authority,  and  have  justly  merited  Mr.  Welds'  cen- 
sure; but  the  P]ngli>li.  by  buildinjr  the  fort  on  American  soil,  had  bubjected 
themselves  tottieRport  of  fortune,  by  making:  it  necessary  for  the  Ajnericans  to 
transcend  the  ordinary  rules  of  natioual  etiquette,  in  order  to  make  thb  mosi 
c'f  tlieif  victory  over  the  Indians. — Author. 


Jay's  Mission  as  Minister  to  England.  217 

of  the  Detroit  river,  and  dnrini2:  their  deliberations  here,  Gov. 
Simcoe  and  other  Enirh'sli  agents  endeavored  to  dissuade  the  In- 
dians  from  makini^  peace  with  the  Americans.  Tlieir  efforts  in 
this  direction,  liowever,  were  in  vain,  unaccompanied  as  they  were 
by  any  positive  promise  of  alliance. 

Happily  for  America,  AVashington  had  taken  timely  steps  to 
avert  war,  having  on  the  16th  of  April  sent  the  following  mes- 
sage to  the  Senate: 

"The  communications  which  I  have  made  to  yon  during  your 
present  session,  from  the  dis])atche3  of  our  minister  in  London, 
contain  a  serious  aspect  of  our  affairs  with  Great  Britain.  But, 
as  peace  ought  to  be  jjursued  wilh  unremitted  zeal,  before  the  last 
resource,  which  has  so  often  been  the  scourge  of  nations,  and  can- 
not fail  to  check  the  advanced  prosperity  of  the  United  States,  I 
have  thought  proper  to  nominate,  and  do  hereby  nominate,  John 
Jay,  envoy  extraordinary  of  the  United  States  to  his  Britannic 
Majesty. 

"  My  confidence  in  our  minister  plenipotentiary  in  London  con- 
tinues undiminished.  But  a  mission  like  this,  while  it  corres- 
epotids  with  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion,  w^ill  announce  to  the 
world  a  solicitude  for  the  friendly  adjustment  of  our  complaints, 
and  a  reluctance  co  hostility.  Going  immediately  from  the  Uni- 
ted States,  such  an  envoy  will  carry  with  him  a  full  knowledge 
of  the  existing  temper  and  sensibility  of  our  country;  and  will 
thus  be  taught  to  vindicate  our  rights  with  firmness,  and  to  cul- 
tivate peace  with  sincerity." 

Tlie  definitive  treaty  of  ])eace  between  England  and  the  United 
States  in  1873,  had  left  many  important  points  of  national  com- 
ity unprovided  for,  as  to  those  rights  which  may  be  called  com- 
mon in  the  family  of  nations.  Our  independence  had  been 
acknowledged,  but  any  influence  we  might  exert  abroad  made  not 
even  a  ripjile  in  the  great  sea  of  European  diplomacy,  which  then 
in  the  plenitude  of  its  grasp  from  two  rival  powers  (England  and 
France),  aimed  each  to  subject  the  whole  world  to  its  influence. 

Under  these  circumstances,  any  di])lomatic  favors  from  Eng- 
land must  necessarily  result  more  from  the  statesmanship  of  our 
minister,  than  from  any  power  behind  him,  and  Washington  saw 
and  made  provision  for  this  contingency  when  he  ajipointed  our 
«nvoy  to  England. 

Mr.  Jay  arrived  in  London  in  June,  and,  says  Lyman,  the  Dip- 
lomatic hi-toriiui,  "There  can  be  no  ouestion  but  a  war  would 
have  taken  place  if  he  had  not  suceeeded  in  making  a  treaty." 
The  instrument  was  not  signed  till  the  'ollowinj;  November,  but 
ms  presence  at  the  Court  of  Saint  James,  even  before  the  treaty 
was  signed,  ha<l  inspired  that  luMly  with  due  re-^i>ec.t  for  the  gov- 
«rnment  which  he  so  ably  rej>resen ted,  and  prevented  any  hasty 


218  Fort  Watjne  Built. 

declaration  of  war.  The  treaty  was  a  very  lengthy  document, 
and  only  the  second  article  will  be  quoted,  as  it  only  liad  a  direct 
influence  on  the  Northwest: 

"Art.  2.  Great  Britain  to  withdraw  her  troops  from  certain 
posts  within  the  boundary  line  of  the  United  States,  on  or  before 
the  1st  of  June,  1796,  &c.  Settlers  and  traders  residing  in  the 
precincts  of  the  posts  to  be  surrendered,  to  enjoy  their  property 
unmolested,  &c.  These  settlers  not  to  be  compelled  to  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
ifec."  * 

General  "Wayne  remained  near  the  battle  ground  till  the  14:th 
of  the  succeeding  month,  September,  when  he  took  up  his  march 
westwardly  to  a  deserted  Miami  village,  at  the  confluence  of  the 
St.  Joseph  and  Saint  Mary's  rivers.  He  reached  the  place  on  the 
17th,  and  set  his  men  at  work  building  a  fort.  It  wasiinishedon 
the  22nd  and  named  Ft.  Wayne,  in  honor  of  the  commanding 
general.  The  christening  was  solemnized  by  the  firing  of  fifteen 
rounds  of  artillery  by  Col.  Hamtramck.  This  was  the  nucleus 
around  which  the  city  of  Ft.  Wayne  grew  into  its  present  pro- 
portions. 

The  place  had  been  noted  as  a  portage  from  the  head  waters 
of  the  Wabash  to  the  Miami  river,  ever  since  the  founding  of 
Yincennes,  and  without  doubt  as  long  before  that  period  as  the 
time  when  the  country  first  became  inhabited  by  the  Indians, 
during  whose  occupation  of  the  county,  the  spot  laid  in  the  track 
of  their  communication  between  the  Wabash  Valley  and  Lake 
Erie.  Here  General  Wayne  remained  the  succeeding  winter, 
and  was  visited  by  delegations  from  tlie  Wyandots,  Ottawas, 
Cliippewas,  Pottawattainies,  Sacs,  Miamis,  Delawares  and  Shaw- 
anese,  all  anxious  for  peace.  Arrangements  were  now  made  foi 
the  most  important  Indian  treaty  ever  held  in  the  west,  to  be 
convened  at  Fort  Greenville  the  following  June,  1795. 

After  the  usual  preliminaries  which  always  go  before  tlie 
business  of  an  Indian  council.  Little  Turtle  made  the  following 
able  speech: 

"  I  wish  to  ask  of  you  and  my  brothers  present,  one  question 
I  would  be  glad  to  know  what  lands  liave  been  ceded  to  you,  as 
I  am  uninformed  in  this  ])articular.  I  expect  that  the  lands  on  the 
Wabash,  and  in  this  country,  belong  to  me  and  my  people.  I 
now  take  the  opportunity  to  inform  my  brothers  of  tlie  United 
States,  and  others  present,  that  there  are  men  of  sense  and  under- 
standing among  my  people,  as  well  as  among  theirs,  and  that 

*  Note. — The  reason  which  the  British  gave  for  holdins?  the  posts,  was  to 
secure  the  payment  ot  private  debts  contractt'd  before  the  revohition.  due  her 
subjects  from  private  individuals  in  America,  alleprin^,  and  perhaps  with  truth, 
that  legal  obstructions  had  bt-en  thrown  in  the  way  of  their  collection.  If  this 
was  so,  such  obatruetions  were  removed,  as  provided  in  Article  7  in  the  treaty. 


Little  Turtle's  Speech  in  the  Peace  Council.         211^ 

tliese  lands  were  disposed  of  without  our  knowledge  or  consent. 
I  was,  yesterday,  surprised,  when  I  heard  from  our  grandfathers, 
the  Delawares,  that  these  lands  had  heen  ceded  by  tlie  British  to 
the  Americans,  when  the  former  were  beaten  by,  and  made  ])eace 
with,  the  latter;  because  you  had  before  told  us  that  it  was  the 
Wyandots,  Delawares,  Ottawas,  Cliippewas,  Pottawattamies,  and 
Sauckeys,  [Sacs,]  who  had  made  this  cession* 

"  I  hope  you  will  pay  attention  to  what  I  now  say  to  you.  I 
wish  to  inform  yon  where  your  younger  brothers,  the  Miamis, 
live,  and,  also,  the  Pottawattamies  of  St.  Joseph's,  together  with 
the  Wabash  Indians.  You  have  pointed  out  to  us  the  boundary 
line  between  the  Indians  and  the  United  States,  but  now  I  take 
the  liberty  to  inform  you  that  that  line  cuts  off  from  the  Indians 
a  large  portion  of  country  which  has  been  enjoyed  by  my  fore- 
fathers, time  immemoral  without  molestation  or  dispute.  The 
print  of  my  ancestors'  houses  are  every  where  to  be  seen  in  this 
portion.  I  was  a  little  astonished  at  hearing  you,  and  my  broth- 
ers who  are  now  present,  telling  each  other  what  business  you  had 
transacted  together  heretofore  at  Muskingum,  concerning  this 
country.  It  is  well  known  by  all  my  brothers  present,  that  my 
forefather  kindled  tlie  iirst  fire  at  Detroit;  from  thence  he  ex- 
tended his  lines  to  the  headwaters  of  Scioto;  from  thence  to  it& 
mouth;  from  thence,  down  the  Ohio,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash; 
and  from  thence  to  Chicago,  on  lake  Michigan ;  at  this  place,  I 
first  saw  my  elder  brothers,  the  Shawanees.  I  have  now  informed 
you  of  the  boundaries  of  the  Miami  nation,  where  the  Great 
Spirit  placed  my  forefather  a  long  time  ago,  and  charged  him  not 
to  sell  or  part  with  his  lands,  but  to  preserve  them  for  his  poster- 
ity. This  charge  has  been  handed  down  to  me.  I  was  much 
surprised  to  find  that  my  other  brothers  diftered  so  much  from 
me  on  this  subject:  for  their  conduct  would  lead  one  to  suppose, 
that  the  Great  Spirit,  and  their  forefathers,  had  not  given  them 
the  same  charge  that  was  given  to  me,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had 
directed  them  to  sell  their  lands  to  any  white  man  who  wore  a 
hat,  as  soon  as  he  should  ask  it  of  them.  I^ow,  elder  brother, 
your  younger  brothers,  the  Miamis,  have  pointed  out  to  you  their 
country,  and  also  to  our  brothers  present.  When  I  hear  your 
remarks  and  proposals  on  this  subject,  I  will  be  ready  to  give 
you  an  answer,  i  came  with  an  expectation  of  hearing  you  say 
good  things,  but  I  have  not  yet  heard  wliat  I  expected."* 
To  this  speech  General  Wayne  himself  replied,  as  follows: 
"Brothers,  the  Miamis:  I  have  paid  attention  to  what  tlie Lit- 
tle Turtle  said  two  days  since,  concerning  the  lands  which  he 
claims.     He  said  iiis  fathers  first  kindled  the  fire  at  Detroit,  and 

•Minutes  and  procedings  of  the  Treaty  of  Greenville. 


220  General  Wayne's  Rejply. 

stretched  his  line  from  thence  to  the  headwaters  of  Scioto;  thence, 
down  the  same,  to  tlie  Ohio;  tlience,  down  that  river,  to  tlie 
mouth  of  the  Wabash;  and  from  thence  to  Chicago,  on  the  south- 
west end  of  lake  Michigan,  and  ohserved  tliat  his  forefathers  had 
enjoyed  that  country  undisturbed  from  time  immemorial.  Broth- 
ers: These  boundaries  inclose  a  very  large  space  of  country, 
indeed:  they  embrace,  if  I  mistake  not,  all  the  lands  on  whicli  all 
the  nations  now  present  live,  as  well  as  those  which  have  been 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  The  lands  which  have  been  ceded, 
have,  within  these  three  days,  been  acknowledged  by  the  Ottawas. 
Cliii>[)ewas,  Pottawattamies,  Wyandots,  Delawares,  and  Shaw- 
anees.  The  Little  Turtle  SJi3'S,  theprints  of  his  forefathers'  houses 
are  everywhere  to  be  seen  within  these  boundaries.  Younger 
brother,  it  is  true,  these  prints  are  to  be  observed;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  we  discover  the  marks  of  French  possessions  through- 
out this  country,  which  were  established  long  before  we  were 
born.  These  have  since  been  in  the  occupancy  of  the  British, 
who  must,  in  their  turn,  relinquish  them  to  the  United  States, 
when  they,  the  French  and  Indians,  Avill  be  all  as  one  people. 
[A  white  string.] 

"  I  will  point  out  to  yon  a  few  places  where  I  discover  strong 
traces  of  these  establishments;  and,  first  of  all,  I  find  at  Detroit 
a  very  strong  print,  where  the  fire  was  first  kindled  by  your  fore- 
fathers: next,  at  Vincennes,  on  the  Wabash;  again  at  Musqui ton, 
on  the  same  river;  a  little  higher  up  that  stream,  they  are  to  be 
seen  at  Ouiatanon.  I  discover  another  strong  trace  at  Chicago; 
another  on  the  St.  Joseph's  of  lake  Michigan.  I  have  seen  dis- 
tinctly the  j)rints  of  a  French  and  a  British  post  at  the  Miami 
villages,  and  of  a  British  post  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  now  in 
their  possession;  ])rints,  very  conspicuous,  are  on  the  Great 
Miami,  which  were  possessed  by  the  French  forty-five  vcars  ago; 
and  another  trace  is  very  distinctly  to  be  seen  at  Sandusky.  It 
appears  to  me,  that,  if  tlie  Great  Spirit,  as  you  say,  charged  .your 
forefathers  to  preserve  their  lands  entire  for  their  posterity,  they 
have  ])aid  very  littie  regard  to  the  sacred  injunction:  fori  see 
they  have  parted  with  those  laiulsto  your  fathers,  the  French,  and 
the  English  are  now,  or  have  been,  in  possession  of  them  all; 
therefore,  t  thitdc  the  charge  urged  against  the  Ottawas,  Chippe- 
was,  and  the  other  Indians,  comes  with  a  bud  grace,  indeed,  from 
the  very  ])eople  who  perha])s  set  them  the  example.  The  Eng- 
lish and  French  both  wore  hats;  and  yet  your  forefathers  sold 
them,  at  various  times,  ])ortions  of  your  lands.*  However,  as  I 
have  already  observed,  you  shall  now  receive  from  the  United 
States  further  valuable  compensation  for  the  lands  you  have  ceded 
to  them  by  former  treaties. 

"  Younger  l)rotliers:  I  will  now  inform  you  wlio  it  was  who 


Si 


Terms  of  Peace.  221 

gave  ns  these  lands,  in  the  first  instance.  It  was  yonr  fathers, 
the  British,  who  did  not  discover  that  care  for  your  interest  which 
you  ouffht  to  have  experienced.  This  is  the  treaty  of  peace, 
made  1  etween  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great  Britain, 
twelve  _)ears  ago,  at  the  end  of  a  long  and  bloody  war,  when  the 
French  and  Americans  proved  too  powerful  for  the  Britisli.  On 
these  terms  they  detained  peace.  [Here  part  of  the  treaty  of 
1783  was  read.]  Here  you  perceive  that  all  the  country  south  of 
the  great  lakes  has  been  given  up  to  America;  but  the  United 
States  never  intended  to  take  that  advantage  of  you  which  the 
British  placed  in  their  hands;  they  wish  you  to  enjoy  your  just 
rights,  without  interruption,  and  to  promote  3'our  happiness.  The 
Britisli  stipulated  to  surrender  to  us  all  the  posts  on  their  side  of 
the  boundary  agreed  on.  I  told  you,  some  days  ago,  that  treaties 
should  ever  be  sacredly  fulfilled  by  those  who  make  tliein;  but 
the  Biitish,  on  their  part,  did  not  find  it  convenient  to  relinquish 
those  posts  as  soon  as  they  should  have  done;  however,  they  now 
find  it  so,  and  a  precise  period  is  accordingly  fixed  for  their  deliv- 
ery. I  have  now  in  my  hand  the  copy  of  a  treaty,  made  eight 
months  since,  between  them  and  us,  of  which  1  will  read  you  a 
little.  [First  and  second  articles  of  Mr.  Jay's  treat,y  read.]  By 
this  solemn  agreement,  they  promise  to  retire  from  Michilimaci- 
nac,  Fort  St.  Clair,  Detroit,  Niagara,  and  all  other  places  on  this 
side  of  the  lakes,  in  ten  moons  from  this  period,  and  leave  the 
same  to  full  and  quiet  possession  of  the  United  States. 

After  much  deliberation  the  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  fol- 
lowing basis  as  to  giving  up  Indianlands: 

Art.  3.  The  general  boundary  line  between  the  land  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  lands  of  the  said  Indian  tribes,  shall  begin 
at  the  mouth  of  Cuyahoga  river,  and  run  thence  up  the  same  to 
the  portage  between  that  and  the  Tuscarawas  branch  of  the  Mus- 
kingum; thence  down  that  branch  to  the  crossing  place  above 
Fort  Lawrence;  thence  westwardly,  to  a  fork  of  tliat  branch 
of  the  Great  Miami  river  running  into  the  Ohio,  at  or  near 
which  fork  stood  Laramie's  store,  and  where  commences  the 
portage  between  the  Miami  of  the  Ohio  and  St.  Mary's  river, 
which  is  a  branch  of  the  Miami  which  runs  iiito  Lake  Erie; 
thence  a  westerly  course  to  Fort  Recovery,  which  stands 
on  a  branch  of  the  Wabash;  thence  soutlnvesterly,  in  a  direct 
line  to  the  Ohio,  so  as  to  intersect  that  river  o])posite  the  mouth 
of  Kentucky  or  Outtawa  river.  The  said  Induin  tribes  do  also 
cede  to  the  United  States  the  following  pieces  of  land,  to  wit: 

1.  One  piece  of  land  six  miles  square,  at  or  near  Laramie's 
store,  before  mentioned.  2.  One  ])iece,  two  miles  square,  at 
the  head  of  the  navigable  water  or  landing,  on  the  St.  Mary's 
river,  near  Girty's  town.     3.     Ore  piece,  six  miles  square,  at  tlie 


222  Terms  of  Peace. 

head  of  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Auglaize  river.  4.  One 
piece,  six  miles  square,  at  the .  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  and 
Miami  river,  where  Fort  Defiance  now  stands.  5.  One  piece, 
six  miles  square,  at  or  near  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  St.  Mary 
and  St.  Joseph,  where  Fort  Wayne  now  stands,  or  near  ^  6. 
One  piece,  two  miles  square,  on  the  Wabash  river,  at  the  eud  of 
the  portage  from  the  Miami  of  the  lake,  and  about  eight  miles 
westward  from  Fort  Wayne.  7.  One  piece,  six  miles  square, 
at  the  Ouatanon,  or  Old  Weatowns,  on  the  Wabash  river.  8. 
One  piece,  twelve  miles  square,  at  the  British  Fort,  on  the 
Miami  of  the  lake,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids.  9.  One  piece, 
six  miles  square,  at  the  mouth  of  the  said  river,  where  it 
empties  into  the  lake.  10.  One  piece,  six  miles  square, 
upon  Sandusky  lake  where  a  fort  formerly  stood.  11.  One 
piece  two  miles  square,  at  the  lower  rapids  of  Sandus- 
ky river.  12.  The  post  of  Detroit,  and  all  the  lands 
to  the  north,  the  west,  and  the  south  of  it,  of  which  the 
Indian  title  has  been  extinguished  by  gifts  or  grants  to  the 
French  or  English  governments;  and  so  much  more  land  to  be 
annexed  to  the  District  of  Detroit  as  shall  be  comprehended  be- 
tween the  Raisin  on  the  souta  and  Lake  St.  Clair  on  the  north, 
and  a  line,  the  general  course  whereof  shall  be  six  miles  distant 
from  the  west  end  of  lake  Erie  and  Detroit  river.  13.  The  post 
of  Michilimackinac,  and  all  the  land  adjacent  of  which  the  In- 
dian title  has  been  extinguished  by  gifts  or  grants  to  the  French 
or  English  governments;  and  a  piece  of  land  on  the  Main  to  the 
north  of  the  Island,  to  measure  six  miles  on  lake  Huron,  or  the 
straits  between  lakes  Huron  and  Michigan,  and  to  extend  three 
miles  back  from  the  water  on  the  lake  or  strait;  and  also  the 
Island  de  Bois  Blanc,  being  an  extra  and  voluntary  gift  of  the 
Chippewa  nation.  14.  One  piece  of  land,  six  miles  square,  at 
the  mouth  of  Chicago  river,  emptying  into  the  southwest  end  of 
lake  Michigan,  where  a  fort  formerly  stood.  15.  One  piece, 
twelve  miles  square,  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river, 
emptying  into  the  Mississippi.  16.  One  piece,  six  miles  pquare, 
at  the  old  Peorias,  fort  and  village,  near  the  south  end  of  the 
Illinois  lake  on  said  Illinois  river.  And  for  the  same  considera- 
tions, and  with  the  same  views  as  above  mentioned,  the  United 
States  now  deliver  to  the  said  Indian  tribes  a  quantity  of  goods 
to  the  value  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  the  receipt  whereof  they 
do  hereby  acknowledge;  and  henceforward  every  year  forever,  the 
United  States  will  deliver,  at  some  convenient  place  northward  of 
the  river  Ohio,  like  useful  goods,  suited  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
Indians  of  the  value  of  nine  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  reck- 
oning that  value  at  the  first  cost  of  the  goods  in  the  citj  or  place 
in  the  United  States  where  they  shall  be  procured. 


Little-Turtle  Visits  Philadelphia.  223 

The  treaty  was  signed,  Aug.  3(1,  1795,  and  Imslied  the  wilder- 
ness to  peace,  till  the  great  events  in  which  the  Continental  wars 
of  Europe  had  developed  issues  which  were  felt  even  on  the  fron- 
tiers of  America,  and  had  much  to  do  in  again  entangling  the 
Indians  in  an  issue  between  themselves  and  the  Americans,  as 
will  be  told  in  future  chapters. 

After  the  treaty,  Little  Turtle  did  all  in  his  power  to  induce 
his  people  to  adopt  the  modes  of  the  white  man,  and  with  this 
end  in  view,  visited  Philadelphia  to  solicit  Congress  aiid  the 
benevolent  Society  of  Friends  to  assist  him  in  this  laudable 
undertaking.  Here  lie  had  an  introduction  to  the  celebrated 
French  travellers,  Yolney  and  Koskiuosko,  which  is  described  as 
follows  by  Drake: 

"  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Yolney' s  interview  with  him  for  infor- 
mation, he  took  no  notice  of  the  conversation  while  the  inter- 
preter was  communicating  with  Mr.  Yolney^  for  he  did  not 
understand  English,  but  walked  about,  plucking  out  his  beard 
and  eye-brows.  He  was  dressed  now  in  English  clothes.  His 
skin,  where  not  exposed,  Mr.  Yolney  says,  was  as  white  as  his ; 
and  on  speaking  upon  tlie  subject,  Little-turtle  said,  "  I  have 
seen  Spaniards  in  Louisiana,  and  found  no  difference  of  color 
between  them  and  me.  And  why  should  there  be  any?  In 
them,  as  in  us,  it  is  the  work  of  the  Father  of  colors,  the  Su7i, 
that  burns  us.  You  white  people  compare  the  color  of  your 
face  with  that  of  your  bodies."  Mr.  Yolney  explained  to  him 
the  notion  of  many,  that  his  race  was  descended  from  the  Tar- 
tars, and  by  a  map  showed  him  the  supposed  communication 
between  Asia  and  America.  To  this  Little-turtle  replied,  '■^Why 
should  not  these  Tartars,  who  resemble  us,  have  come  from 
America?  Are  there  any  reasons  to  the  contrary?  Or  why 
should  we  not  both  have  been  born  in  our  own  country?  "  It  is 
a  fact  that  the  Indians  give  themselves  a  name  which  is  equiva- 
lent to  our  word  indigene,  that  is,  07ie  sprung  from  the  soil,  or 
natural  to  it." 

"When  Mr.  Yolney  ^&\&^  Little-turtle  yvha,t  prevented  him 
from  living  rniong  the  whites,  and  if  he  were  not  more  comfort- 
able in  Philadelphia  than  upon  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  he  said, 
"  Taking  all  things  together,  you  have  the  advantage  over 
us/  hut  here  I  am  deaf  and  dumh.  I  do  not  talk  younlan- 
gxuige;  I  can  neither  hear,  nor  make  myself  heard.  When 
I  walk  through  the  streets,  I  see  every  person  in  his  shop 
employed  about  something:  one  makes  shoes,  another  hats,  a 
third  sells  cloth,  and  every  one  lives  by  his  labor.  I  say  to 
myself.  Which  of  these  thiiigs  can  you  do?  Not  one.  I  can 
make  a   bow  or  an  arrow,  catch  fish,  kill  gani^,  and  go   to 

*See  Volney's  Travels,  ut  supra. 


224  TJie  English  Evacuate  the  Western  Porta. 

war:  hit  none  of  these  is  of  any  use  here.  To  learn  what  is 
done  here  wo^dd  reqidre  a  long  time.''''  ''''Old  age  comes  on." 
"7  shoidd  he  a  piece  of  furniture  useless  to  my  nation,  useless 
to  the  whites,  and  tiseless  to  myself^  "  /  must  return  to  my 
own  country.'' " 

"At  the  same  time  (1797),  among  other  eminent  personages  to 
whom  this  cliief  became  attached  in  Phihidelphia,  was  tlie  re- 
nouned  Koshiuslio.  This  old  Polish  chief  Mas  so  well  pleased 
witli  Little-turtle,  that  when  the  latter  went  to  take  his  final 
leave  of  him,  the  old  '  war-worn  soldier '  and  patriot  presented 
liim  with  a  beautifnl  pair  of  pistols,  and  an  elegant  robe  made  of 
sea-otter's  skin,  of  the  value  of  '  several'  hundred  dollars.* 

After  this  successful  issue  of  General  Wayne's  campaign,  Spain 
made  a  treaty  with  the  United  States,  dated  March  3d,  I79t),  in 
which  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  was  guaranteed  ta 
the  Americans,  but  she  was  very  tardy  in  the  fulfillment  of  its 
stipulations. 

At  that  time  there  were  strong  Spanish  forts  at  Natchez  and 
Vicksburg,  then  called  Walnut  Hills,  and  although  the  treaty 
bouud  her  to  give  them  up,  she  still  held  possession  of  them,, 
greatly  to  the  perplexity  of  the  Americans.  Meantime  this  faith- 
less government  continued  her  intriguing  with  the  Western  peo- 
ple to  iuduce  them  to  set  up  a  government  for  themselves  inde- 
pendent of  the  union;  and  as  an  incentive,  sent  a  Mr.  Powers  as 
a  secret  agent  among  tiiem,  with  instructions  to  ofter  them  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  besides  a  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  cash.f 

No  substantial  encouragement  was  given  to  this  scheme,  and 
on  the  5th  of  October,  1798,  Spain  reluctantly  retired  from  the 
posts  she  had  ujijustly  held  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  American  vessels  could  now  pass  to  the  sea  unmolested.'  In 
July,  179G,  the  British  evacuated  all  the  posts  which  they  held  on 
American  soil  in  the  West.  Detroit,  the  most  important  of 
them  ail,  was  immediately  taken  possession  of  by  a  detachment 
UMilcr  Captain  Porter.     On  retiring  from  the  post,  the  Britisii, 

•  ••  Litlie-tinile  died  in  the  spring  of  1812,  at  his  residence,  but  a  short  time 
bofbre  the  dclaiaiion  ot  war  asrainst  England  by  the  U.  States.  His  portrait, 
by  Stcwa  t.  irraces  the  walls  of  the  war-ottice  of  our  nation.  The  following 
notice  appeared  in  the  public  prints  at  the  time  of  his  death:  'Fort  Wayne  21 
July.  181.:?.  0;i  the  14  inst.  the  celebr.it^d  Miami  chief,  the  Llttle-tttitle,  died 
al  this  |il;ic".  at  the  ajre  of  G5  years.  Perhaps  there  is  notlett  on  this  conti- 
ni-n!  one  ot  liis  color  so  distingui  hed  in  council  and  in  war.  His  disorder  wiis 
the  gout.  He  died  in  acaui  '.  because  he  chose  to  be  in  the  open  air  He  met 
deaMi  with  fircat  lirmncas.  The  agent  <or  Indian  aft'airs  had  him  bnried  willi 
the  Innors  of  war,  and  other  marks  of  distinction  suited  to  his  character.'  " 

t  State  Papers,  Vol.  ll,:p.  103. 


The  Connecticut  Land  Company.  1^25 

regardless  of  the  courtesies  for  which  they  are  generally  exem- 
plary, acted  the  part  of  a  malicious  tenant  on  leaving  a  house. 

The  wells  of  the  fort  were  filled  with  stones,  the  windows  of 
the  fort  broken,  the  gates  locked,  and  the  keys  left  in  the  custody 
of  an  aged  Negro,*  who,  with  fidelity  to  his  trust,  promptly  gave 
them  to  the  Americans,  and  the  old  fort  passed  out  of  the  liands 
of  its  tenacious  occupants,  with  its  glorious  memories  giving 
place  to  painful  regrets,  as  they  took  their  departure  down  the 
clear  waters  of  the  Straits,  bidding  good-bye  to  their  dusky 
friends,  who  had  so  many  years  hung  around  the  place  in  hope 
of  alliance  against  the  aggressive  Americans. 

The  State  of  Connecticut,  in  1795,  disposed  of  a  portion  of 
the  Western  Keserve  to  a  company  known  by  the  title  of  the 
Connecticut  Land  Company,  of  which  Moses  Cleavelandf  was 
one  of  the  directors.  The  next  year,  he  with  a  party  of  survey- 
ors started  for  the  new  country  in  April.  Their  route  was  chosen 
through  Albany,  thence  to  Oswego.  Here  they  arrived  the  3d 
of  June,  a  month  before  the  British  had  evacuated  the  Western 
popts,  and  these  punctilious  sentinels  still  guarded  Oswego  with 
the  watchfulness  of  picket-men  o  i  the  eve  of  a  battle,  "f he  par- 
ty, therefore,  durst  not  pass  the  British  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Oswego  river  without  permission,  lest  the  commander  should 
give  their  batteaux  a  cannon-shot  as  they  paddled  past  its  frown- 
ing battlements.  On  being  asked  permission  to  do  this,  with 
dogged  resolution  the  British  commander  refused  it,  and  the 
American  party  were  obliged  to  carry  their  batteaux  circuitously 
around  the  fort  by  land,  and  launch  them  below  tlie  British  fort, 
beyond  the  reach  of  their  guns.  Thence,  coasting  along  the 
southern  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  they  arrived  at  Buffalo,  where 
they  remained  several  days,  to  hold  a  council  with  the  ;Senecaand 
Mohawk  chiefs,  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  any  interest  they 
might  claim  in  the  lands  composing  such  portions  of  the  West- 
ern Reserve  as* the  Connecticut  Land  Company  had  purchased.;}: 

The  celebrated  Brant  and  Red  Jacket  were  tlie  principal  depu- 
ties on  the  part  of  the  Indians.  These  able  men  saw  with  regrets 
the  inevitable  downfall  of  their  power,  and  all  they  could  do  was 
to  make  provision  for  the  creature  comforts  of  their  tribes,  while 
they  yet  had  a  being.     After  several  days  spent  in  parleying, 

*Lanman'8  Mich.,  p.  167.  • 

t^  is  name  was  spelled  with  an  "a"  in,  the  first  syllable. 

J  Note. — The  origina  hotnt^of  the  Mohawks  and  Senecas  was  in  Eastern  New 
Ifork,  but  they  had  extended  their  doin  nions  into  Ohio  by  rijfbt  of  conque>t. 
Hut  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  when  these  lands  were  ceded  to  the  United 
Sates  by  the  Western  tribes,  the  Mohawks  and  Sene.  as  were  not  present; 
hen  ;<'  th"  necessity  to  confer  with  them  to  prevent  any  future  trouble  as  to  the 
validity  to  these  titles. 


226  Red  Jacket's  Caustic  Speech. 

twenty -five  hundred  dollars  worth  of  goods  were  accepted  as  pay 
for  their  interest  in  the  lands,  tlie  land  on  which  the  present  city 
of  Cleveland  now  stands  being  included  in  the  tract.  This  oflFer 
was  accepted,  not  without  some  bitter  reproaclies  on  the  part  of 
Red  Jacket,  who  said: 

"You  white  people  make  a  great  parade  about  religion;  you 
say  you  have  a  book  of  laws  and  rules  which  was  given  you  by 
the  Great  Spirit,  but  is  this  true?  Was  it  written  by  his  own 
hand  and  given  to  you  ?  No,  it  was  written  by  your  own  people. 
They  do  it  to  deceive  3'ou.  Their  whole  wishes  center  here 
(pointing  to  his  pocket);  all  they  want  is  the  money.  (It  hap- 
pened there  was  a  priest  in  the  room  at  the  same  time  who  heard 
him.)  He  says  wliite  people  tell  them,  tliey  wish  to  come  and  live 
among  them  as  brothers,  and  learn  them  agriculture.  So  they 
bring  on  implements  of  husbandry  and  presents,  tell  them  good 
stories,  and  all  appears  honest,  but  when  they  are  gone  all 
appears  as  a  dream.  Our  land  is  taken  from  us,  and  still  we 
don't  know  how  to  farm  it." 

Having  successfully  executed  this  important  business,  the 
party  em  i)arked  on  lake  Erie  for  their  destination.  This  was  the 
first  introduction  of  the  New-Englanders  to  the  waters  of  the  lakes 
for  the  purposes  of  permanent  settlement.  For  more  than  a  cen- 
tury the  French  had  been  here,  and  for  the  past  thirty  years  the 
English  had  held  the  shores  of  these  waters  exclusively  to  them- 
selves. Now  the  rising  star  of  a  new  power,  in  the  twentieth 
year  of  its  existence,  nad  penetrated  across  the  wilderness  of 
New  York,  and  was  about  to  lay  the  dimension-stone  for  the  city 
of  Cleveland,  on  a  model  destined  soon  to  be  repeated  with  suc- 
cess at  other  places  along  the  margin  of  these  shining  waters. 
On  the  2nd  of  July  the  party  arrived  at  Erie,  which  still  retained 
the  old  Frencli  name  of  Presque  Isle.  Here  the  ruins  of  the  old 
French  fort  still  remained,  as  a  frail  memorial  of  French  ambi- 
tion crushed  by  the  strong  arrn  of  England,  who  in  turn  had  held 
but  a  transient  lease  of  power.  Passing  on. to  the  west,  they 
arrived  at  Conneaut  on  the  4th  of  July.  Here  they  celebrated 
the  day  with  suitable  toasts,  and,  says  the  Journal  of  Cleaveland, 
"  drank  several  pails  of  grog,  supped,  and  retired  in  remarkable 
good  order." 

The  party  now  began  to  lay  out  the  country  in  townships, 
according  to  the  admirable  system  of  government  surveys  begun 
on  the  Ohio  river  in  1785. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  having  run  a  line  around  a  large  tract, 
they  came  back  to  lake  Erie  again.  Their  provisions  were 
exhausted,  and  from  the  following  item  in  Cleaveland's  journal, 
their  rum  had  come  to  its  last  gill.  Says  the  record :  "  Just  as 
we  were  starting  for  Conneaut,  we  saw  a  large  party  coming  along 


CUoeland  Settled.  227 

the  beach,  and  supposing  them  to  be  Indians,  and  having  only  a 
gill  left  in  our  bottle,  we  were  hurrying  to  a  spring  to  drink  it 
before  they  could  come  up  and  tease  us  for  it,  but  to  our  astonish- 
ment, we  found  them  to  be  two  of  the  parties  of  surveyors  com- 
ing in  togetlier." 

While  the  surveyors  were  at  work,  Mr.  Cleaveland  made  an 
excursion  to  the  site  destined  to  become  the  city  which  was  to 
bear  his  name,  arriving  there  on  the  22nd  of  August.  Says 
Whittlesey,  in  his  History  of  Cleveland: 

"  As  they  coasted  close  along  the  shore,  overhimg  by  a  dense 
green  forest,  mirrored  in  the  waters  over  which  they  were  pass- 
ing, the  mouth  of  the  river  disclosed  itself,  as  a  small  opening, 
between  low  banks  of  sand.  The  man  who  controls  the  party  is 
seated  in  the  stern,  steering  liis  own  craft,  which  is  gra.-efully 
headed  into  the  stream. 

"  His  complexion  was  so  swarthy,  his  figure  so  square  and 
stout,  and  his  dress  so  rude,  that  the  Indians  supposed  some  of 
the  blood  of  their  race  had  crept  into  his  veins." 

"  A  young  growth  of  oaks,  with  low  bushy  tops,  covered  the 
ground.  Beneath  them  were  thrifty  bushes,  rooted  in  a  lean,  but 
dry  and  pleasent  soil,  highly  favorable  to  the  object  in  view.  A 
Bmooth  and  even  field  sloped  gently  towards  the  lake,  whose  blue 
waters  conld  be  seen  extending  to  the  horizon.  His  imagination 
doubtless  took  a  pardonable  flight  into  the  future,  when  a  great 
commerciiil  town  should  take  the  place  of  the  stinted  forest 
growth,  wiiich  the  northern  tempests  had  nearly  destroyed." 

"  Enough  men  were  left  to  put  up  a  storehouse  for  the  sup- 
plies, and  a  cabin  for  the  acconunodation  of  the  surveyors." 

"  Houses  had  before  this  been  l)uilt  by  white  people,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river;  but  not  ft>r  tlie  purpose  of  permanent  settle- 
ment. Col.  James  llillman  avers  that  he  put  up  a  small  cabin 
on  the  east,  side  of  the  river,  in  178G,  near  the  foot  of  Superior 
street,  of  which,  however,  nothing  further  is  known.  Sometime 
previous  to  17S7,  a  party  who  were  wrecke<i  upon  a  British  ves- 
sel, between  one  and  two  miles  east  of  the  river,  built  an  hut, 
large  enough  to  shelter  themselves  throngh  one  winter.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  river  a  log  store  house  was  erected,  prior  to  1786, 
to  protect  the  flour  which  was  brought  here  from  Pittsburg,  on 
the  way  to  Detroit.  This  building,  in  a  dilapidated  state,  wag 
standing  in  17it7,  wh«n  it  was  occupied  awhile  by  James  Kings- 
bury and  his  family." 

Surveys  for  the  streets  of  the  new  city  were  made  in  a  few 
weeks,  the  flrst  plat  bearing  date  of  October  1st,  1796.  It  was 
the  flrst  town  laid  out  exclusivelv  by  New  En^iland  citizens  on 
tlie  entire  chain  of  laucs,  and  at  this  day  is  second  in  commercial 
iin})ortauce  only  to  (/hicago. 


228  Hut  Built  at  Chicago. 

The  same  summer,  a  colored  man  from  St.  Domingo,  named 
Jean  Baptiste  Pont  Au  Sable,  in  his  forest  wanderings,  was 
attracted  to  the  old  portage  of  Chicago.  Here  he  built  a  hut  on 
the  north  bank  of  the  main  branch  of  the  Chicago  river,  and  set- 
tled among  tlie  Pottowattomies,  who  then  dwelt  at  the  place. 
Without  doubt  he  was  well  received  by  them,  as  he  soon  aspired 
to  the  dignity  of  a  chief,  but  like  many  others  before  and  since, 
his  ambitious  aims  were  never  to  b6  realized.  Thus  baulked,  he 
relinquished  the  improvements  he  had  made  and  removed  to 
Peoria. 


* 


The  small  beginning  he  liad  made,  however,  was  soon  appro- 
priated by  a  Frenchman  named  La  Mai,  who  sippears  to  have 
been  only  a  transient  occupant,  like  many  others  of  his  country- 
men before  him,  and  the  only  mark  which  gives  significance  to 
his  brief  residence  here,  is  the  fact  that  he  sold  out  his  establish- 
ment to  one  who  became  the  true  pioneer  of  Chicago  as  an  Amer- 
ican city.  This  was  John  Kinzie,  whose  romantic  adventures 
incarnate  with  the  spirit  of  forest  liiie  as  it  then  was  in  its  fasci- 
nations will  be  told  in  future  pages. 

And  now  the  old  century  fades  away  in  a  peaceful  twilight, 
burying  in  oblivion  the  crushed  hopes  of  France  and  England, 
wh.le  the  American  star  is  rising  above  the  dip  of  th.e  horizon. 

•  Wabum,  P.  490. 


CHAPTER  XrV. 

William  Henry  Hamson,'  His  Ancestry  and  Birth — Is  Ap 
pointed  Governor  of  the  Indian  Territory — Spanish  Posses 
sion  of  louisiana — Napoleon's  Ambitious  iJesigns  Shov  i 
hy  the  Conquest  of  St.  Domingo^  and  hy  the  Purchase  of  L<  a- 
islana  from  Spain — French  Designs  Frustrated  hy  the  iCn- 
glish — Purchase  of  Louisiana  hy  the  United  States — Conse- 
quent Necessity  of  a  Fort  on  the  Upper  LaTces — St.  Joseph 
Chosen  for  its  Locality — I'he  Indians  Ohject  to  its  Erection 
— Chicago  Next  Selected — The  Fort  Btiilt  Here — Margaret 
<ind  Elizabeth,  the  Captives—  Their  Adventures^  and  what 
grew  out  of  Them — J(mn  Kinzie — His  Youthful  Life — He 
Settles  in  Chicago — The  Fur  Trade  and  the  L  ngage. 

Trivate  ownership  to  the  soil  is  a  condition  peculiar  to  new 
vouiitries.  It  may  almost  be  called  one  of  the  modern  inventions 
of  civilization,  tirst  brought  to  perfection  in  America.  The  effect 
of  this  distribution  of  nature's  most  valuable  gift,  has  been  mani- 
It'st  in  school  houses,  libraries,  newspapers,  magazines,  pictures 
iind  well  furnished  habitations,  universally  brought  into  being 
where  men  own  the  soil  they  cultivate.  The  nineteenth  century 
opened  upon  the  people  of  the  United  States  with  a  new  field,  on 
which  these  good  things  were  to  be  multiplied  in  extent  beyond 
limit,  as  far  as  could  then  be  seen.  The  unmeasured  fields 
beyond  the  Ohio — enriched  by  a  thousand  autumnal  dressings  of 
leaf-mould,  or  the  decay  of  prairie  growth — looked  inviting  to  the 
husbandmen  ot  New  England  and  Old  Virginia,  and  emigra- 
tion from  these  places  began  again  after  assurance  of  peace  with 
the  Indiam. 

A  character  is  now  introduced  into  history — ona  of  those  tnaster- 
tjpirits  who  can  only  live  and  grow  in  a  new  (;ountry.  Not  that 
men  thus  reared  are  consequently  superior  to  the  cultured  men 
■of  old  communities  in  all  things,  but  that  they  exceed  them  in 
economizing  effective  force  from  apparently  humble  sources;  in 
bringing  about  large  results  from  small  beginnings,  and  in  the 
aduptation  of  ways  and  means  to  ends,  cannot  be  denied.  Such 
A  man  was  "William  Henry  Harrison,  whose  name  deserves  a 


230  Hat'H'ison  Appointed  Governor  of  Indiana  Territory. 

place  with  a  long  list  of  illustrious  Americans,  who,  like  himself, 
grew  into  distinction  from  the  toils  of  camp  life  in  the  forest. 

He  was  born  in  Berklej',  Virginia,  in  1773.  His  ancestors 
had  made  themselves  couspicuous  in  the  Cromwell ian  wars 
in  England,  and  his  fatlier  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  American  Jndiependence,  and  after  it  was  achieved 
became  governor  of  Virginia.  William  Henry  M'as  the  young- 
est son.  When  Governor  St.  Clair  was  gathering  his  forces 
to  invade  the  Indian  country,  he  had  an  earnest  desire  to  partici- 
pate in  the  campaign,  and  for  that  purpose  applied  to  General 
Washington,  then  President.  He  received  an  ensign's  coTinnis- 
sion  and  started  for  Fort  Washington.  He  arrived  too  late  to 
take  part  in  tiie  ill-fated  expedition  of  St.  Clair,  but  joined  Gen. 
Wayne  in  his  successful  campaign  which  succeeded  it.  After 
the  treaty  of  Greenville,  which  restored  peace  to  the  forest,  he  was 
placed  in  command  of  Fort  Washington,  and  shortly  afterward 
married  the  daughter  of  Judge  Symes,  the  same  who  was  the 
proprietor  of  Symes  Purchase,  spoken  of  in  a  preceeding  chapter. 
His  ambition  soon  took  a  higher  range  than  to  command  a  small 
squad  of  dissolute  soldiers  in  a  peaceful  fort,  and  he  resigned  his 
commission  as  captain,  and  was  soon  appointed  secretary  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  and  in  1792  was  elected  delegate  to  Congress 
— he  being  the  first  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  northwest  at 
Washington.  On  the  13th  of  May,  1800,  he  was  appointed  gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  of  Indiana,  which  had  been  set  olf  from 
the  Northwest  Territory.  Its  area  included  the  present  states  of 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  The 
seat  of  government  was  fixed  at  Viucennes,  on  the  Wabash  river 

The  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  Indiana  Territory  was  5,641 
whites,  while  that  of  the  Ohio  division  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory was  45,365.*  The  number  of  Indians  inhabiting  the  Indi 
ana  Territory  was  more  than  three  times  that  of  the  whites.  They 
liad  all  tasted  the  fruits  of  war  with  their  white  neighbors,  but 
being  still  in  quiet  possession  of  their  hunting-grounds,  felt  a 
liappy  assurance  that  they  and  their  otispring  should  forever  con 
tinue  to  occupy  the  limitless  forests  of  the  country,  which  then, 
from  their  vast  extent,  seemed  to  bid  perpetual  defiance  to  white 
settlements. 

The  Northwest  was  now  organized  into  two  territories,  possess- 
ing only  the  germs  of  her  ultimate  grandeur,  and  these  were  not 
within  the  reach  of  human  vision  to  forecast.  Spain  held  the 
whole  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  such  portions  of  the 
eastern  side  as  came  witliin  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of 
Louisiana,  which  included  the  port  of  New  Orleans.     Besides 

*Ctu-ey'a  Atlas,  pubiisbed  in  Fbiladelpbia,  1801. 


The  Purchase  of  Louisiana.  231 

this  menacing  power  at  the  back  door  of  the  United  States,  which 
must  shackle  the  prosperity  of  the  Northwest  as  long  as  it  lasted, 
onr  relations  with  England  were  )f  a  slipshod  character,  from  the 
fiict  that  her  colonial  ports  were  not  open  to  our  commerce,  which 
iorced  us  to  trade  with  an  important  part  of  the  world  through 
English  merchants.  But  as  good  fortune  for  the  United  States 
would  have  it,  Spain  was  showing  evident  signs  of  decrepitude, 
soon  to  be  made  manifest  by  her  relinquishment  to  France  of  her 
entire  possessions  of  Louisiana. 

This  she  had  already  done  at  the  treaty  of  St.  Ildefonso,  on  the 
first  of  October,  ISOO.  Through  some  subtle  diplomacy  this 
cession  was  kept  a  secret  till  at  the  treaty  of  Amiens,  which 
hushed  Europe  to  a  treacherous  peace,  it  was  published.  The 
rising  star  of  Napoleon  was  then  mounting  the  horizon  of  France, 
and  she  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  her  former  greatness  in 
America  might  be  restored.  On  the  part  of  the  United  States 
grave  apprehensions  arose  that  the  new  owners  of  the  soil  would 
close  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  against  them,  and  bnild 
up  a  nation  on  its  western  bank,  which  might  prove  a  dangerous 
rival  by  securing  the  entire  commerce  of  the  gulf.  At  this  time 
.  Napoleon  sent  an  army  to  invade  St.  Domingo,  wliich  strength- 
ened this  theory  in  the  minds  of  the  Americans.  Success  at  first 
attended  the  expedition,  but  soon  afterwards  the  slaves  arose  and 
drove  the  invaders  from  the  island.  Meantime  England  was 
forming  fresli  combinations  against  him,  and  war  broke  out  a^in 
between  that  power  and  France  in  the  following  May.  The 
defeat  of  his  army  in  St.  Domingo,  and  the  supremacy  of  the 
English  marine,  now  made  Louisiana  an  uncertain  possession, 
and  French  hopes  of  aggrandizement  on  the  soil  of  America 
were  suddenly  dashed  to  clie  ground.  Up  to  this  time  no  thoughts 
had  ever  been  entertained  in  the  United  States  of  purchasing 
Louisiana.  On  the  contrary,  this  immense  country  had  ever 
been  a  mountain  in  the  path  of  western  progress,  commanding 
as  it  did  their  only  avenue  wherewith  to  ship  their  exports  to 
foreign  countries.  Now  the  commotion  which  prevailed  in 
Europe  by  the  chance  direction  affairs  had  taken,  had  ripened 
this  fruit  for  an  American  sickle,  and  America  purchased  it  for  a 
little  over  fifteen  million  dollars.  The- treaty  of  cession  was  rati- 
fied by  Congress  on  the  21st  of  October,  1803.* 

While  tho  negotiations  were  in  progress,  the  British  minister, 
in  his  heated  zeal  to  inflict  a  wound  on  France,  made  a  proposi- 

*The purchase  had  l)een  niiideon  the  ;}Oth  of  April  pn'vious  by  Robert  R.  Lir- 
inpston,  then  our  resident  Minister  in  Paijs.  and  Mr.  Moore,  who  hail  just  been 
sent  there  by  the  Executive  on  a  special  mission.  The  few  months  that  France 
bad  held  the  country,  showed  the  impossibility  of  any  Euroiean  power's  at- 
tempt to  acquire  any  American  soil  that  laid  in  the  path  of  Auiericon  progress. 


232      Commission  to  Locate  a  Fort  on  Lake  Michigan. 

tion  to  Knfus  King,  our  envoy  to  London,  to  conquer  tlie  said 
country  from  France  and  cede  it  to  the  United  States  after  peace 
had  been  made  witli  that  power.  Tliis  proposition  was  not  seri- 
ously entertained  by  American  statesmen,  wlio  had  too  much  pen- 
etration to  submit  so  important  a  matter  to  tlie  fortune  of  war  or 
the  caprices  of  a  foreign  cabinet,  *  When  the  sale  was  made,  said 
Napoleon,  in  the  bitterness  of  thwarted  ambition:  "I  have  given 
to  England  a  maritime  rival  that  will  sooner  or  later  humble  her 
pride."  Spain  made  a  feeble  and  unavailing  protest  against  the 
transfer,  lest  she  should  ultimately  lose  Florida  and  Mexico  by 
its  contagious  example,  botli  of  which  events  have  since  been  ver- 
ified. This  augmentation  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
brought  increased  responsibilities,  and  demanded  preparations 
wherewith  to  utilize  it.  The  British  influence  among  the  count- 
less Indian  warriors  along  the  upper  lakes  had  been  gathering 
strength  by  means  of  half-civilized  courtesies,  adapted  to  their 
tastes,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Kevolution;  and  a  demonstra- 
tion of  American  power  to  offset  this  influence,  was  necessary  to 
guarantee  safety  to  the  frontier  settlements  already  made,  as  well 
as  to  bring  the  northern  portions  of  Louisiana  at  least  within 
hailing  distance  of  its  new  owners.  Already  the  project  of  build- 
ing a  fort  at  the  southern  extremity  of  lake  Miciiigan  had  been 
entertained  by  Congress,  while  negotiations  for  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana  was  pending,  but  now  its  immediate  necessity  was 
apparent,  and  commissioners  were  promptly  sent  Irom  Washing- 
ton to  select  a  suitable  place  for  it. 

The  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  river,  on  the  east  bank  of  lake 
Michigan,  was  first  selected,  and  preparations  made  to  build  the 
fort,  when  the  Indians  of  the  country  withheld  their  consent  for 
its  construction,  and  the  commissioners  were  obliged  to  select 
another  place,  as  they  hal  no  power  to  enforce  their  demands — 
the  Indian  title  here  never  having  been  extinguished.  Across 
the  lake  was  the  portage  of  Chicago,  where  six  miles  square  had 
been  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  the  Indians  in  the  treaty  ot 
Greenville,  in  1795.  It  was  a  bold  push  into  the  interior  to  es- 
talilish  a  fort  here,  but  there  was  no  other  available  spot,  and 
orders  for  its  construction  were  issued  fromthe  War  Department 
early  in  the  sunjmerof  1803.     Detroit  and  Michilimacinac  were 

*That  some  fortuitious  contirifrency  might  possibly  yet  give  Louisiana  to  the 
English,  wasprobably  the  intention  ot  the  British  Minister  in  making  this  pro- 
position to  Mr.  King  This  theory  is  strengthenpfl  by  a  letter  that  a  British 
officer  high  in  rank  had  previously  written  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  from  which 
the  following  is  an  extract  :  "  Should  the  Amt-ricans  thus  once  fairly  possess 
themselves  of  that  colony,  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  dislodge  them,  and  Irom 
the  time  they  establish  a  footing  in  any  port  in  the  Gulf  of  Florida  the  inter- 
co'  rse  between  the  Knropean  nations  and  the  West  Indies  will  be  very  insecure 
indeed." 


Fort  Bxdlt  at  Chicago.  233 

then  tlie  extreme  western  outposts  of  the  Americans  along  the 
lakes.  A  company  of  United  States  soldiers  was  stationd  at  the 
former  place,  under  command  of  Capt.  John  Whistler,  an  officer 
of  the  Kevolution,  and  to  him  was  entrusted  this  service.  Under 
his  command  were  two  young  lieutenants — William  Whistler, 
his  oldest  son,  and  James  S.  Swearington,  from  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 
To  the  latter  lie  gave  orders  to  conduct  the  soldiers  across  the 
forests  of  Michigan  to  Chicago,  while  he  and  his  wife,  his  son 
William  and  his  wife — a  young  bride — took  passage  on  the  U.  S. 
schooner  Tracy  for  the  same  destination,  there  to  set  up  the  Amer- 
ican standard  at  a  spot  venerable  with  the  memories  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  of  transient  French  occupation,  though 
now  inhabited  by  only  three  rude  huts  of  French  fur-traders,  each 
with  their  usual  adjuncts — the  Indian  wife  and  the  inevitable 
brood  of  half-breed  sprites. 

The  schooner  arrived  on  the  Fourth  of  July  and  anchored  out- 
side the  bar,  for  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  choked  with  a  sand 
drift.  Here  she  discharajed  her  freiijht  of  ammunition,  arms 
and  provisions  into  small  boats,  in  which  they  were  rowed  into 
the  river  and  landed  on  the  spot  where  the  fort  was  to  be  built. 
Two  thousand  Indians  were  assembled,  who,  with  many  a  grunt 
of  surprise  and  approbation,  beheld  these  preparations  so  fatal  to 
their  security. 

The  schooner  was  the  especial  object  of  their  admiration. 
They  called  it  the  big  canoe  with  wings.  After  the  freight  and 
passengers  were  landed,  Capt.  Tracy,  the  commander,  gave  or- 
ders to  set  sail  for  Detroit,  and  the  ship  soon  vanished  into  the 
distant  dip  of  the  sky  and  left  the  new-comers  among  their  swar- 
thy associates,  cut  otf  from  the  outside  world.  Their  first  busi- 
ness was  to  build  the  block  house — an  easy  task  but  for  the 
hauling  of  the  logs  to  the  ground  selected  for  its  site.  They  had 
neither  oxen  or  horses  with  which  to  do  this,  but  the  soldiers 
geared  themselves  with  ropes,  and  performed  the  onerous  toil. 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1803  were  spent  before  the  fort 
was  iinished,  but  comfortable  quarters  wi  re  secured  for  the  gar- 
ison  before  cold  weather  had  commenced.  The  defenses  con- 
sisted of  two  block  liouses,  one  on  the  southeast  and  the  other  on 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  grounds  enclosed.  These  were  large 
enough  for  a  parade  ground,  and  were  surrounded  by  a  substan- 
tial palisade.  A  sallyport  connected  the  enclosure  with  the  river 
by  means  of  a  subterranean  passage.  Immediately  north  of  the 
fort,  the  main  branch  of  the  Chicago  river  rolled  its  quiet  waters 
to  the  lake,  and  on  the  west,  half  a  mile  of  wet  prairie  intervened 
between  tlie  fort  and  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  river.  On 
the  east  were  the  shifting  sand-drifts  through  which  the  river 
found  its  way  to  the  lake  by  a  detour  southwardly  along  the  shore 


234  Armament  and  Gamson  of  the  Fort. 

half  a  mile  south  of  its  present  outlet.  Three  pieces  of  light 
artillery  and  small  arms  constituted  the  armament.  Attached  to 
the  fort  was  a  two-storj  log  building,  sided  with  clap-boards,  riven 
from  lo<rs  like  barrel  staves.  This  was  called  the  United  States 
factory,  which  meant  a  place  to  store  goods  belonging  to  the  gov- 
ernment designed  for  gratuitous  distribution  among  the  Indians. 
It  stood  outside  of  the  palisade  to  the  west,  and  was  under  the 
charge  of  an  agent  who  was  sutler  to  the  fort,  and  was  subject  to 
the  orders  of  its  commander.  The  garrison  of  the  fort  consisted 
of  1  captain,  1  second  lieutenant,  1  ensign,  4  sergeants,  1  surgeon 
and  54  privates.* 

Says  lion.  Zebina  Eastman,  in  his  history  of  Chicago:  "Thift 
fort  then  occupied  one  of  the  most  beautitul  sites  on  the  lake 
shore.  It  was  as  high  as  any  other  point,  everlooking  the  sur- 
face of  the  lake;  commanding  as  well  as  any  other  view  on  this 
flat  surface  could;  the  prairie  extending  to  the  south  to  the  belt 
of  timber  along  the  south  branch  and  on  the  north  side,  and  the 
white  sand  hills  both  to  the  north  and  south,  which  had  for 
ages  past  been  the  sport  of  the  lake  winds." 

This  lonesome  hermitage  soon  became  a  nucleus  around  which 
the  restive  spirits  which  forest  life  had  brought  into  being,  gath- 
ered, not  to  enrich  themselves  and  live  in  luxurious  ease,  but  to 
follow  the  bent  of  an  ambition  that  led  their  way  into  an 
untroden  path. 

What  matter  if  dangers  lurked  beside  it  ?  These  were  so 
many  stimulants  to  variegate  the  path  of  life  and  give  point  to 
its  smoother  surface  by  contrast  with  its  rougher.  Daring  and 
muscle  then  held  a  high  place  in  frontier  acomplisiimenta. 
They  were  necessary  in  order  to  push  the  Anuiioau  '"idea"  far 
into  the  forest  in  advance,  to  pave  the  wav  for  other  graces 
which  were  some  day  to  follow. 

Demand  begets  supply  in  every  essential  want  of  humanity; 
and  when  pioneers  are  wanted  to  face  danger,  plenty  are  willing 
to  enlist  under  an  assurance  that  they  will  be  fully  renuraerated 
on  the  spot  by  that  immunity  from  restraint  which  the  forest 
secures  to  its  tenants,  and  by  that  dashing  style  of  good  fellow- 
ship which  is  ever  present  between  themselves  and  their  com- 
rades. Whatever  may  be  the  rough  exterior  of  sucli  men,  they 
are  heroes  in  the  estimation  of  even  the  most  cultured  leaders  of 
society,  and  even  the  prude  regards  them  with  charity,  and  ac- 
cepts even  their  eccentricies  without  censure.  Chicago  was  un- 
like Boston,  which  was  settled  by  Winthrr^anl  tlie  Puritans. 
She  (Chicago)  began  under  the  naive  el  anents  of  trontier  life, 
and  after  many  years  graduated  under  the  influence  of  the  seed 

•American  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  175,  176.  • 


Margaret  and  Elizabeth.  235 

they  (the  Puritans)  planted  on  the  eastern  fringe  of  the  conti- 
nent, somewhat  modified  however  in  its  march  across  the  inter- 
vening country). 

Among  the  ventnresome  pioneers  of  Virginia,  was  a  back- 
woodsman named  McKenzie.  He,  with  a  number  of  his  com- 
rades settled  at  the  mouth  of  Wolf's  creek,  where  it  empties  into 
the  Kanawha,  in  Giles  county. 

During  Dunmore's  war  on  the  frontier,  the  Shawanese,  then 
the  great  foVmidable  power  of  the  forest,  in  one  of  thc'r  b(jrder 
foraj's  came  suddenly  upon  the  liome  of  McKenzie,  killed  his 
wife,  and  led  two  of  his  children  into  captivit}'.  The  names  of 
the  young  captives  were  Margaret,  ten  years  old,  and  Elizabeth, 
eiglit  years  old.  They  were  taken  to  old  Chiliicothe,  the 
great  Indian  town  of  the  Shawanese,  where  they  were  adopted 
into  the  family  of  a  higli-bred  Indian  chief,  and  raised  under  the 
tender  care  of  his  obedient  squaw,  according  to  custom.  Ten 
years  later,  when  the  girls  were  in  the  full  oloom  of  maidenly 
beauty,  Margaret  was  allowed  to  accompany  her  foster  father  on 
a  hunting  excursion  to  the  Saint  Mary's  river,  in  the  present 
State  of  Indiana,  near  Ft.  Wayne,  under  the  especial  care  of  a 
matronly  squaw  who  was  one  of  the  party.  Arriving  at  the 
place,  a  young  chief  of  the  same  tribe  became  enamored  by  the 
graces  and  accomplishments  of  the  young  cu'itive.  But  Marga- 
ret, who  retained  vivid  memories  of  her  youth,  with  all  the 
tender  associations  that  clustered  around  the  hearthstone  of  civ- 
ilization, recoiled  from  the  savage  attentions  of  her  swarthy 
lover,  and  determined  not  to  yield  her  heart  to  one  who  had  no- 
higher  destiny  for  her  than  to  ornament  his  leggins  with  porcu- 
pine quills,  as  one  of  the  highest  accomplishments  of  which  a 
squaw  was  capable.  Whatever  else  may  be  t!:e  gifts  of  an 
Indian,  he  knows  not  how  to  play  the  rejected  lover  with  the 
manly  graces  by  which  the  impassioned  young  civilian  gently 
tones  up  the  aifections  of  his  hesitating  fair,  and  he  (the  Indian) 
attempts  by  force  what  he  cannot  win  by  grace.  Margaret's 
audacious  lover  was  no  exception  to  this  rule,  and  at  midnight 
approached  the  camp,  where  she  was  sleeping,  intending  to  force 
her  to  become  his  wife.  According  to  the  Indian  cusiom  a  din 
of  yells  and  the  rattle  of  an  Indian  drum  announced  the  inten- 
tions of  the  would-be  bridegroom  to  the  terrified  victim. 

Aroused  to  a  full  sense  of  danger,  the  heroine  leaped  from  her 
couch  and  fled  into  the  glooms  ot  the  forest  for  a  protection  that 
her  friends  could  no  longer  gi/eher.  Fortunately  her  dog  fol- 
lowed her  as  she  fled  down  the  bank  of  the  St.  Mary's  river  to 
the  stockade,  half  a  mile  distant,  where  the  horses  were  kept. 
Ere  she  reached  the  place,  the  footsteps  of  her  detestable  lover 
were  heard   close  beiiind.     She  turned,  set  her  dog  upon  hira^ 


236  Early  Life  of  John  Kinzie. 

and  while  the  noble  animal  was  grappling  with  the  wretch,  she 
reached  the  stockade,  unhitched  a  horse,  leaped  on  his  back,  and 
took  flight  through  the  wilderness,  seventy-iive  miles  to  her  In- 
dian home  at  Chillicothe.  The  fate  of  the  faithful  dog  was  never 
known,  but  he  was  probably  killed  while  fighting  in  defense  of 
his  mistress.  The  horse  died  the  next  day  after  he  had  performed 
so  wonderful  a  feat,  without  rest  or  sustenance.  This  heroic  girl 
and  her  sister  Elizabeth,  aftei'wards  became  the  mothers  of  some 
of  the  first  pioneers  of  Chicago. 

In  the  eventful  year  of  1763  was  born  at  Quebec  a  boy,  des- 
tined not  only  to  participate  in  the  romantic  riot  of  forest  life  as 
it  then  was  in  the  great  interior,  but  to  fix  his  name  on  the  page 
of  history,  with  the  honorable  distinction  as  the  Father  of  Chi- 
cago. This  was  John  Kinzie.  His  father  died  in  his  infancy, 
and  his  mother  married  a  Mr.  Forsj'th,  and  removed  to  New 
York.  At  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve  John  determined  to  go  back  to 
his  native  place,  and  armed  with  this  resolution,  went  aboard  a 
sloop  ready  to  sail  for  Albany.  The  bark  was  under  way  before 
the  young  truant  was  missed  from  the  nursery.  The  poor  mother 
had  lost  a  former  child  by  her  first  husband,  the  remains  of  whom 
had  been  picked  up  in  the  woods  of  Canada,  lost  and  starved  to 
death,  and  now  her  heart  bled  afresh  for  what  she  supposed  to  be 
the  awful  fate  of  Johnny.  Fortune,  however,  had  ordered  it 
otherwise.  The  lad  made  the  acquaintance,  on  board  the  sloop, 
of  a  gentleman  going  to  Quebec,  who  paid  his  fare,  and  landed 
him  safely  at  the  place.  Here  the  young  adventurer  soon  got 
employment  as  an  apprentice  to  a  silversmith,*  and  won  his  way 
to  distinction  among  the  restive  spirits  of  his  eventful  age,  and 
next  we  find  him  a  iur-trader  in  Detroit  during  the  English  occu- 
])ation  of  the  place.  After  the  adventure  of  Margaret,  the  cap- 
tive,  as  just  told,  she,  with  her  sister  Elizabeth,  were  taken  to 
this  place  by  their  foster-father,  who  ielt  proud  of  his  adopted 
children,  and  here  they  became  acquainted  with  John  Kinzie.  It 
is  not  strange  that  the  brilliant  young  adventurer  beheld  the 
beautiful  captive  Margaret  with  the  eye  of  a  lover,  nor  that  the 
heroine  felt  a  similar  sentiment  for  him,  and  they  were  soon  mar- 
ried. Elizabeth  at  the  same  time  met  a  Scotchman  named  Clark, 
and  married  him,  and  their  swarthy  foster-parent  took  his  path 
back  to  Chillicothe  alone.  The  two  young  couples  lived  in  De- 
troit about  five  years,  during  which  time  Ma'-^'^ret  had  three 
children,  William,  James  and  Elizabeth,  and  Elizabeth  had  two 
children,  John  K.  and  Elizabeth. 

The  treaty  of  Greenville,  in  1795,  having  restored  peace  to  the 
border,  Mr.  Isaac  McKenzie,  the  father  from  whom  the  captives 

*  Wabun,  p.  193. 


The  Clyhotirn  Family.  -'^T 

had  been  taken  almost  a  quarter  of  a  century  before,  received 
tidings  of  his  children,  and  went  to  Detroit  to  see  them.  As 
might  be  supposed,  the  sight  aroused  tender  emotions  that  had 
slumbered  for  years  in  painful  suspense.  Nor  were  the  hearts  of 
the  children  less  moved  at  the  sight  of  their  a^^ed  parent,  whose 
memory  I  ad  never  been  obliterated,  even  during  their  savage 
training  in  the  tumult  of  an  Indian  camp.  Under  this  strong 
pressi're  of  filial  devotion  the  two  mothers,  with  their  children, 
returned  with  their  fatlier  to  the  old  home,  to  which  arrange- 
ment both  of  their  husbands  consented.  A  final  separation  was 
not  intended,  but  time  and  distance  divorced  them  forever.  Mr. 
Kinzie  afterwards  removed  to  Saint  Josephs,  Mhere  he  married  a 
Mrs.  McKiliip,  the  widow  of  a  British  officer.  Margaret  mar- 
ried Mr.  Benjamin  Hall,  of  Virginia,  and  Elizabeth  married  Mr. 
Jonas  Cljbourn,  of  the  same  place.  David,  the  oldest  son  of 
Benjamin  Hall  and  Margaret,  made  a  journey  to  Chicago  in  1822, 
where  he  remained  three  years.  Here  a  wilderness  of  shining 
waters,  as  the  upper  lakes  then  were,  nestled  amidst  an  unlimited 
wilderness  of  woodland  and  prairie  teeming  with  fertility  hidden 
beneath  a  forest  studded  with  overgrown  trees,  or  a  prairie  ornate 
with  tall  grasses  and  thrifty  shrubbery.  On  his  return  to  Vir- 
ginia, his  flattering  account  of  the  place  and  its  future  destiny, 
which  he  foreshadowed  with  a  truthful  forecast,  induced  a  num- 
ber of  persons  to  emigrate  thither.  The  first  of  these  was  Archi- 
bald Clybourn,  the  oldest  son  of  Elizabeth,  who  remained  a  per- 
manent resident  and  an  esteemed  citizen,  well  known  to  thou- 
sands of  the  present  inhabitants  of  Chicago. 

His  mother  was  Elizabeth,  the  captive,  who  with  her  second 
husband,  Mr.  Clybourn,  soon  afterwards  came  to  Chicago.  More 
will  be  said  of  them  in  future  pages.  Mr.  Benjamin  Hall  was 
another  one  of  Chicago's  pioneers  who  emigrated  to  the  place  in 
consequence  of  Mr.  David  Hall's  commendations  of  its  future 
promise.  Margaret,  the  captive,  was  liis  aunt,  and  to  him  the 
writer  is  indebted  for  the  detail  of  Margaret's  and  Elizabeth's 
history.*  Mr.  Hall  is  now  a  resident  of  Wheaton.  He  came  to 
Chicago  in  1830,  and  was  the  proprietor  of  the  flrst  tannery  ever 
established  there.  He  married  the  sister  of  the  Hon.  J.  D.  Caton, 
and  raised  an  esteemed  family  of  children,  who  are  now  scattered 
in  the  west.  Elizabeth  Kinzie,  daughter  of  John  Kinzie,  by  Mar- 
garet, became  the  wife  of  Samuel  Miller,  from  a  respectable 
Quaker  family  of  Ohio.  This  woman  was  highly  esteemed  by 
all  who  knew  her  for  Iht  excellent  traits.  Her  husband  kept  the 
Miller  house  at  the  forks  of  the  Chicago  rivers,  and  is  still 

*A  partial  history  of  Marjjaret's  captivity  is  given  in  Howe's  Historical  Col- 
lections of  Virginia,  pages  278  and  279. 


238         John  Kinzie  and  Family  Settle  in  Chicago. 

remembered  by  a  few  of  Chicago's  old  settlers  as  a  respected  cit- 
izen. Mrs.  Miller  died  at  this  house  in  1832,  leaving  three  verj 
promising  children. 

James  Kinzie  caine  to  Chicago  about  1824,  and  was  well  received 
by  his  father,  who  assisted  him  in  his  first  eflbrts  to  establish 
himself  in  the  place.  He  amassed  considerable  wealth,  but  lost 
the  most  of  it  in  the  crash  of  1837,  when  he  removed  to  Wiscon- 
sin, where  he  died  about  the  year  1860. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  early  days  of  the  fort,  where  a  few 
superanuated  soldiers  stood  guard  at  this  frontier  post  through 
the  winter  of  1803-4,  like  hermits  in  a  wilderness.  If  they  ob- 
tained any  tidings  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  outside  world, 
it  must  have  been  through  the  agency  of  some  chance  pedestrian 
messenger,  and  any  news  he  might  bring  would  lack  authenticity. 
But  even  this  satisfaction  was  probably  not  afforded  them,  in 
their  wild  recluse.  The  next  spring,  however,  was  destined  to 
bring  an  arrival  to  their  post  of  a  permanent  character,  whose 
presence  should  help  to  bring  around  them  the  social  conditions 
of  settled  communities.  Mi*.  John  Kinzie,  himself,  was  then  a 
resident  of  Detroit,  but  had  determined  to  make  Chicago  his 
future  home.  His  wife  was  the  mother  of  a  daughter  by  her 
first  husband,  which  danghiPf  was  now  a  member  of  his  family. 
The  baby,  John  H.  Kinzie,  was  now  about  six  months  old.  An 
Indian  trail  then  led  from  Deiroit  through  Ypsilanti  (then  known 
as  Charms  trading  station),  Niles  and  St.  Joseph,  around  the 
southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  thence  one  branch  led  to 
Chicago  and  another  to  Rock  Island,  on  the  Mississippi  river. 
This  was  the  only  way  by  which  Mr.  Kinzie  could  reach  the 
place,  and  horseback  was  the  only  means  of  transportation. 

Accordingly  their  effects  were  packed  in  sacks  and  lashed  to  a 
horse's  back,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  the  daughter  were 
each  mounted  on  a  horse,  with  Johnny  slung  in  a  swaddling 
pocket  from  the  horn  of  a  saddle,  and  the  journey  was  begun, 
bay  after  day  they  pursued  their  wooded  trail,  camping  out  each 
night,  till  Chicago  was  reached.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  pur- 
chased a  small  French  trading  establishment  of  a  man  named 
LeMai,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made  in  a  previous  chapter, 
and  from  time  to  time  this  hut  was  improved  as  the  home  of 
Mr.  Kinzie,  till  a  comfortable  house  substituted  it,  as  shown  in 
its  picture  on  another  page.  This  was  the  tiist  private  dwelling 
ever  built  in  Chicago  as  an  American  city.  It  stood  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river,  opposite  the  fort,  fronting  towards  the  south. 
A  small  boat  chained  to  the  bank  was  always  in  readiness  to  ferry 
forward  and  back  between  his  home  and  the  fort,  and  this  con- 
.-etituted  Chicago  as  it  was  then,  begun  by  John  Kinzie  and  three 
French  iamilies  who  then  resided  there;  one  of  which  was  Le- 


Mrs.    Whhtler.  239 

Mai's,  and  the  other  two  were  Ouihnette's  and  Pettell's  families. 
Ouilmette  remained  a  permanent  resident  of  Cliicago,  and  was 
ever  true  to  the  American  interest,  which  record  was  rewarded 
by  a  large  reservation  of  land  for  him  north  of  Chicago,  which 
Btill  perpetuates  his  memory.  Capt.  Whistler's  wife,  then  a 
bride  of  but  sixteen  years,  is  still  (in  1879)  living.  Henry  W. 
Hurlbut,  Esq.,  a  present  citizen  of  Chicago,  visited  her  in  1875, 
and  thus  describes  the  interview  in  liis  pamphlet  on  Chicago 
Antiquities,  page  24: 

*'  It  was  a  coveted  privilege  in  which  we  sought,  as  any  one 
might  believe,  for  it  was  during  the  tremendous  rain-storm  of 
the  evening  of  the  29th  of  October,  1875,  that  we  sallied  out  to 
call  on  Mrs.  Col.  R.  A.  Kinzie  for  an  introduction  to  that  lady's 
mother,  Mrs.  Whistler.  When  we  entered  the  parlor,  the  ven- 
erable wojnan  was  engaged  at  the  centre-table  in  some  game  of 
amusement  with  her  grand  children  and  great-grand-children, 
seemingly  as  much  interested  as  any  of  the  juveniles. 

(We  will  remark  here  that  five  generations  ot  this  family  have 
lived  in  Chicago.) 

"  She  claimed  to  enjoy  good  health,  and  was  apparently  an  unu- 
siial  specimen  of  well-preserved  faculties,  both  intellectual  and 
physical.  She  is  of  a  tall  form,  and  her  appearance  still  indicates 
the  truth  of  the  common  report,  that  in  her  early  years  she  was 
a  person  of  surpassing  elegance.  A  marked  trait  of  her  has  been 
a  spirit  of  unyielding  energy  and  determination,  and  which  length 
-of  years  has  not  yet  subdued.  Her  tenacious  memory  ministers 
to  a  voluble  tongue,  and  we  may  say  briefly,  she  is  an  agreeable, 
intelligent  and  sprightly  lady,  numbering  only  a  little  over  88 
years.  "To-day,"  said  she,  "I  received  my  first  pension  on 
account  of  my  husband's  services."  Mrs.  Whistler  resides  in 
Newport,  Kentucky.  She  has  one  son  and  several  grandsons  in 
the  army.  Born  in  Salem,  Mass.,  July  3d,  1787,  her  maiden 
name  was  Julia  Ferson,  and  her  parents  were  John  and  Mary 
LaDuke  Ferson.  In  childhood  she  removed  with  her  parents  to 
Detroit,  where  she  received  most  of  her  education.  In  the  month 
of  May,  1802,  she  was  married  to  William  Whistler  (born  in 
Hagerstown,  Md.,  about  1784),  a  second  Lieut,  in  the  company  of 
his  father,  Capt.  John  Whistler,  U.  S.  A.,  then  stationed  at  Detroit." 

He  held  command  of  Fort  Dearborn,  tiie  name  given  to  the 
new  fortification,  till  1811,  and  during  this  whole  time  nothing 
occurred  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  place. 

The  Indians  kept  up  a  trade  in  furs  with  "Shaw-neawkee,"  the 
name  they  gave  to  Mr.  Kinzie,  which,  in  their  language,  meant 
a  silversmith.  And  during  this  term  of  years  the  even  measure 
of  justice,  as  well  as  the  agreeable  demeanor  of  Mr.  Kinzie  to 
-them,  established  a  friendship   between    themselves  and   him. 


240  The  Far  Trader. 

which  proved  a  precious  deliverance  to  himself  and  family  when 
the  Red  Man  again  took  the  war-path. 

"  Mrs.  John  II.  Kinzie,  the  authoress  of  that  graphic  picture  of 
frontier  life  (Wabun),  in  speaking  of  John  Kinzie's  first  days  in 
Chicago,  a!)d  his  experiences  in  the  fur  trade,  in  which  he  was 
eniraged,  says:  "  By  degrees  more  remote  trading  posts  \vere  es- 
tablished by  him.  all  contributing  to  the  parent  one  at  Chicago; 
at  Milwaukee,  with  the  Menominees;  at  Ilock  River,  w^ith  the 
AV^iniiebagoes  and  the  Pottawatomies;  on  the  Illinois  river  and 
Kankakee,  with  the  Pottawatomies  of  the  Prairies  and  with  the 
Kickapoos,  in  what  was  called  '  Le  Large' — being  the  vridely  ex- 
tended district  afterwards  created  into  Sangamon  county.  Each 
trading  post  had  its  superintendent  and  its  complement  of  en- 
gages— its  train  of  pack-horses  and  its  equipment  of  boats  and 
canoes.  From  most  of  the  stations  the  turs  and  peltries  were 
brought  to  Chicago  on  pack-hoi'ses,  and  the  goods  necessary  for 
the  trade  were  transported  in  return  by  the  same  method.  The 
vessels  which  came  in  the  sju'ing  and  fall  (seldom  more  than  two 
or  three  annually),  to  bring  the  supplies  and  goods  for  the  trade, 
took  the  furs  that  were  already  collected  to  Mackinaw,  the  depot 
of  the  Southwest  and  American  Fur  Companies.  At  other  sea- 
sons they  were  sent  to  the  place  in  boats  coasting  around  the 
lake." 

"Of  the  Canadian  voyageurs,  or  engaiies,"  (continues  Mrs. 
Kinzie,)  "  a  race  that  has  now  so  nearly  passed  away,  some  notice 
may  very  properly  here  be  given.  They  were  unlike  any  other 
class  of  men.  Like  the  poet,  they  seemed  born  to  their  vocation. 
Sturdy,  enduring,  ingenious  and  light-hearted,  they  possessed  a 
fi])irit  capable  of  adapting  itself  to  any  emergency.  No  difficul- 
ties baffled,  no  hardships  discouraged  them,  while  their  affection- 
ate nature  led  them  to  form  att.achments  of  the  warmest  charac- 
ter to  their  'bourgeois,'  or  master,  as  well  as  to  the  native  in- 
habitants among  whom  their  engagements  carr'jd  them.  Mon- 
treal, or  according  to  their  own  pronunciation,  Marrialle,  was 
their  depot.  It  was  at  that  place  that  the  agents  commissioned 
to  make  up  the  quota  for  the  different  companies  and  traders, 
found  material  for  their  selections. 

The  terms  of  engagement  were  usually  from  four  to  six  hun- 
dred livres  (ancient  Quebec  currency)  per  annum,  as  wages, 
with  rations  of  one  quart  of  lyed  corn  and  two  ounces  of  tallow 
per  diem,  or  its  equivalent  in  whatever  sort  of  food  is  to  belound 
in  the  Indian  country.  Instances  have  been  found  of  their  sub- 
mitting cheerfully  to  fare  upon  fresh  fish  and  nuiple  sugar  for  a 
whole  winter,  when  cut  off  from  other  supplies.  It  was  a  coin- 
nioa  saying, "  Keep  an  engagee  to  his  corn  and  tallow,  and  he  will 


Michilimacinac.  -+1 

serve  you  well ;  give  him  pork  and  bread,  and  he  soon  gets  be- 
yond your  management." 

At  this  time  Michilimacinac  was  a  place  of  extensive  com- 
merce with  the  Indians.  Thither  went  the  distant  Sioux,  and 
other  tribes,  both  from  far  and  near,  to  exchange  their  furs  for 
such  necessities  as  had  then  become  indispensable  to  the  Indians. 
And  there  gathered  tlie  fearless  spirits  of  the  frontier,  who  glo- 
ried in  the  privations  of  the  wilderness,  wilder,  if  possible,  than 
the  natives  themselves,  and  not  less  hardy.  These  excitements 
gave  to  the  place  a  metropolitaji  character  far  above  the  Chicago 
portage,  which  was  then  only  an  outpost  of  Old  "  Mackinaw." 

Thus  closes  a  chapter  of  civil  and  savage  amenities  springing 
into  a  transitory  life,  strangely  intermingled  together,  while  the 
young  nation,  in  her  fecundity,  is  giving  birth  to  metropolitan 
cities.  What  was  then  a  reality  appears  in  retrospect  like  a 
dream  to  us  who  are  rivalling  each  other  in  the  arts  of  elegance 
and  luxury,  and  jostling  each  other  along  the  paths  of  life  for 
want  of  elbow  room  wherewith  to  ventilate  an  ambition  more 
studious  in  mentality,  more  psychological,  more  in  accordance 
with  man's  nobler  nature;  but  possibly  not  untarnished  with 
subtle  vices  that  will  be  more  apparent  to  the  readers  of  our  his- 
tory a  hundi    i  years  hence  than  they  are  to  us  now. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Oovernor  Harrison''s  Efforts  to  Extinguish  Indian  Titles  to 
Lands — Indian  Discontents — Tecximseh — The  Prophet  — 
TecumseK's  Interview  vnth  Harrison — Its  Threatenina  As- 
jpect — TecHmseh''s  Attempt  to  Form  a  Confederacy — Harri- 
son Marches  into  the  Indian  Country — Uncamps  at  Tippe- 
canoe— TJte  Prophet  Attacks  Him — Is  Defeated — Tecumseh^s 
PUvThS  Frustrated  hy  the  Battle — The  Territory  of  Illinois 
Orgaii  hed — Ninian  Edwards  Appointed  Governor. 

Under  the  able  administration  of  Harrison  as  governor  of  the 
territory  of  Indiana,  and  tlie  peaceful  appearance  of  the  Indians, 
emigration  increased,  and  the  lands  yet  ceded  by  the  Indians  to 
the  United  States  wereqnite  inadequate  to  the  demand,  and  the 
call  was  for  more  land.  To  satisfy  this  call  the  Wyandots  ceded 
that  portion  of  Ohio  known  as  tlie  Western  Reserve  on  July  4, 
1805.  On  the  21st  of  August,  the  same  year,  the  Miami's 
ceded  a  tract  containing  two  million  acres,  Governor  Harrison 
being  the  purchaser;  and  on  the  30th  of  December  following  the 
Piankeshaws  ceded  a  tract  eigrhtv  miles  m  'de  alonj;  the  west 
bank  of  the  Wabash,  which  included  all  *^  H\nd  between  that 
stream  and  a  cession  which  the  Ivaskaskiao  .lad  made  in  1803, 
While  these  tribes  were  relinquishing  the  Indian  hunting 
grounds  to  white  settlements  by  piecemeal,  nnmindful  of  the 
results  which  might  grow  out  of  such  an  abandonment  of  the 
forest,  there  were  a  few  master  minds  among  them  who  could 
clearly  forecast  the  end,  if  such  sales  were  not  prevented. 

Prominent  among  these  was  Tecumseh,  Chief  of  the  Shaw- 
aneese,  who  may  be  looked  '  pon  as  the  last  representative  of  the 
original  nobility  of  his  deo  'ing  race.  He  beheld  the  cessions 
of  lands  t»>  the  United  Stat,  s  with  ahirm,  and  resolved  to  make 
one  fin  id  effort  to  stay  the])rogress  of  the  woodchopper's  axe,  and 
preserve  the  remaining  forests  of  the  west  inviolalile  to  their 
nativ )  owners — a  desperate  and  fool  hardy  resolution  unless 
English  aid  was  expected  to  his  cause.  But  however  certain  this 
might  appear  in  his  estinnition,  he  commenced  the  work  before 
him  in  a  peaceble  and  statesmanlike   manner.     Tlie  first  step  to 


Tecumseh  Attempts  to  Form,  a  Confederacy.         '243 

be  taken  was  to  form  an  Indian  confederacy,  by  means  of  a  pri- 
vate council,  with  representative  men  among  the  Indians,  the 
principal  object  of  which  should  be  to  prevent  the  further  sale 
<_pf  lands  to  the  United  States,  except  by  consent  of  the  confeder- 
acy, which  was  intended  to  unite  the  entire  Indian  population  of 
the  northwest. 

This  council  was  held  at  Greenville,  about  the  year  1806. 
Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  who  was  gifted  with  prophecy  as  was 
supposed,  were  the  leading  spirits  comprising  ic.  Billy  Caldwell, 
an  educated  half-breed,"*  was  private  secretary  to  Tecumseh. 

Tecumseh  could  read  and  write,  but  the  book  of  nature  was 
Ids  most  highly  prized  volume,  and  the  lines  of  the  liuman  face 
were  in  his  scrutinizing  glance  the  plain  indexes  to  the  heart. 
Greenville  was  from  this  time  his  headquarters,  where  he  held 
his  court,  and  from  which  place  both  he  and  his  brother,  the 
prophet,  frecpiently  went  forth  to  visit  the  different  tribes  of  the 
country,  and  inijtress  up^n  them  the  necessity  of  a  united  effort 
for  mutual  ])rotcction.  In  this  labor  the  prophet's  influence  was 
perhaps  greater  than  that  of  Tecumseh  himself,  for  it  had  a 
leverage  from  another  world  wherewith  to  bear  upon  life  in  tliis, 
wliile  Tecumseirs  logic  was  circumscribed  to  public  policy. 

The  prophet  dreamed  and  saw  visions,  and  his  earnest  zeal 
was  soon  i-ewarded  witli  a  great  awakening  among  his  swarthy 
brethren.  IJoth  he  and  Tecumseh  lent  their  powerful  influence 
in  favor  of  temperance,  as  well  as  many  other  causes  in  which 
thev  were  engaged.  Bnt  the  cause  most  at  heart  was  tlie  orcran- 
ization  of  the  great  Indian  confederacy.  In  the  spring  of  1808, 
they  moved  their  headquarters  to  the  lianks  of  a  small  stream, 
called  Tippecanoe,  which  emptied  into  the  Wabash,  and  here 
immedialely  sprung  up  a  modern  Mecca,  to  which  swarthy  pil- 
grims came  fromfar  and  near  to  commune  with  some  transcend- 
ent power  wliich  was  to  cany  their  race  iafely  through  the  wil- 
derness of  their  griefs.  All  this  time  Tecumseh  was  running 
from  tribe  to  tribe  to  propagate  his  new  political  principles,  and 
no  evidi-'uce  exists  that  lie  advocated  anything  but  peaceful  meas- 
ures to  fulfll  his  laudable  designs,  as  history  is  compelled  to  call 
them.  The  following  August  he  visited  (tov.  Harrison  at  Vin- 
cennes.  The  interview  was  a  pleasant  one,  and  won  the  confi- 
dence of  Harri.son  sufticiently  to  set  at  rest  any  misgivings  he 


*]i\\\y  Caldwell  soon  afterwards  became  prineiprd  riiiet  of  the  Pottawatoniies, 
arfl  after  tlie  war  was  over  made  Chicay-o  his  rej;ideiiee,  till  his  tribe  was  removed 
to  thf  iieigliborhood  of  Council  Bliitls.  in  fsri-li.  H<'ie  he  died  in  184-)  In 
IS.'}.'!  Mr.  Pcikins,  who  wrote  "The  Western  Aiinal.-i,'  had  an  interview  with 
himnt  (  hicaffo,  at  wliich  time  he  had  a  tiinik  tall  of  pajiiTH  jjertaining'  to  the 
war.  and  particularly  Tecnmseh's  participation  in  it;  and  it  was  at  ihis  inter- 
view that  Mr.  Perkins  learned  of  the  private  council  which  Tecunincli  hold  at 


Greenville.    See  Western  Annals,  p.  a60. 


244  'Wirh-a-inac' s  Influence  in  Council. 

miijlit  formerly  have  had  as  to  direct  warlike  intentions  of  the 
distinguished  chief.  Still  his  caution  never  slept,  and  he  was 
ever  on  the  watch  for  any  new  phase  which  might  develop  be- 
tween the  two  antagonistic  elements  nnder  his  territorial  charge, 
at  the  head  of  one  of  which  he  stood,  while  Tecumseh  ably  re])re- 
sented  the  other.  Two  years  later,  in  1810,  the  census  of  Indiana 
territory  showed  a  population  of  24,520,  and  there  were  in  the 
territory  33  grist  mills,  14  saw  mills,  18  tanneries,  28  distille- 
ries, 3  powder  mills,  1,256  hand-looms,  and  1,350  spinning 
wheels.  This  showed  a  quadruple  increase  in  the  number  of 
inhabitants,  and  much  more  than  that  in  its  agricultural  and 
manufacturing  interests  during  the  ten  years  since  its  lirst  or- 
ganizatiDn  as  a  territory. 

Thai  ihese  augmentations  to  the  white  settlements  had  in- 
crease ^  the  jealousy  of  Tecumseh  and  the  Prophet,  was  well 
known.  The  latter  was  daily  increasing  in  popularity,  as  was 
amply  shown  by  the  numbers  who  gathered  around  him  to  hear 
him  foretell  the  good  things  in  store  for  the  Indian  race,  and 
tone  up  their  resohition  to  verity  them.  Meantime  Harrison 
deemed  it  prudent  to  try  if  possible  to  counteract  tliis  intlueiice, 
and  to  this  end  sent  messengers  to  the  Miamis,  Delawares  and 
Pottawatomies,  whose  business  it  was  to  assure  those  tribes  of 
the  protection  and  friendship  of  the  United  States,  and  to  warn 
them  against  the  pretensions  of  the  Pro])het.  His  influence  had 
now  extended  to  tlie  tribes  around  lake  Michigan,  and  early  in 
May,  1810,  the  Pottawatomies,  Chippewas  and  Ottawas  held  a 
council  at  St.  Joseph  to  consider  the  propriety  of  joining  his 
standarl. 

In  this  council  Win-a-mac,  a  distinguished  Pottawatomie  chief, 
well  known  to  the  early  settlers  of  Chicago,  used  his  influence 
against  the  Prophet.  This  friendly  intervention  in  favor  of  the 
whites  was  due  to  the  influence  which  Mr.  Kinzie  and  the  officers 
of  Fort  Dearborn  had  exerted  over  him.  It  prevailed  in  the 
council,  and  no  encouragement  was  given  to  the  emissaries  of  the 
Prophet.  On  the  contrary,  Win-a-niac  sent  valuable  information 
to  Governor  Harrison  as  to  the  number.s  of  hostile  tribes.  No 
act  of  hostility  had  yet  been  committed,  but  signs  of  brooding 
discontent  were  on  the  increase;  among  the  Sha.vanese,  in  par- 
ticular, who,  in  their  honor-clad  armor  of  inde]irn(lence,  refuse<l 
to  receive  their  annuity  of  salt  which  the  United  States  govern- 
ment were  accustomed  to  give,  and  insulted  the  agents  sent  to  de- 
liver it,  by  calling  them  "  dogs."  This  pali)able  sign  of  hostility 
caused  Governor  Harris<m  to  send  a  messenger  forthwith  to 
Prophet's  town*  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  discontent.   At  first  the 

•An  Indian  town,  near  Tippecanoe  Creek,  where  the  prophet  lived. 


Interview  Between  Harrison  and  Tecumseh.  '245 

prophet  laid  the  bhxine  as  usual  on  some  of  liis  hasty  young  men, 
but  when  pressed  by  Mr.  Dubois,  Harrison's  faithful  messenger, 
for  the  real  reason,  he  complained  that  the  Indians  had  been 
cheated  out  of  their  lands — tliat  no  sale  was  good  unless  made 
bv  all  tlie  tribes.  In  re])ly  to  this  complaint,  Governor  Harrison 
returned  an  answer,  offering  to  restore  any  lands  to  the  Indians 
that  had  not  been  fairly  purchased.  This  message  was  sent  by 
a  Mr.  Barron,  with  two  associates,  Erouillette  and  Dubois. 
Arriving  at  the  place  they  were  conducted  into  the  presence  of 
the  high  priest,  with  no  small  measui-e  of  ceremony.  When  within 
i\  few  feet  of  his  majesty,  '"He  looked  at  me,"  said  Barron, 
"for  several  minutes  without  speaking  oi-  making  any  sign  of 
recoo'iiition,  although  he  knew  me  well.  At  last  he  spoke,  ap- 
parently in  anger.  'For  what  purpose  do  you  come  here?' 
r-aid  he.  He  then  accused  them  all  of  l)eing  spies,  and  point- 
ing to  the  ground,  said  :  'There's  your  grave  !  Look  on  it.'  " 
Tecumseh,  who  was  present,  now  interfered,  to  save  the  lives 
of  the  messengers — assured  them  of  their  safety,  and  received 
their  message.  No  answer  was  given  to  it,  but  Tecumseh  said 
lie  would  visit  Harrison  at  Vincennes,  in  a  few  days,  and  re- 
ply to  him.     Tlie  messengers  now  withdrew. 

On  the  12th  of  August  succeeding  (1810),  true  to  his  word, 
Tecumseh,  attended  by  75  warriors,  paid  his  respects  to  Governor 
Harrison.  He  remained  in  Vincennes  twelv^e  days,  holding  fre- 
quent interviews  with  him,  always  with  an  air  of  hauteur,  which 
imly  an  Indian  can  assui^e  with  grace.  On  the  20th,  addressing 
the  governor,  he  said:  "  Brother — Since  the  peace  of  Greenville, 
in  1795,  was  made,  you  have  killed  some  of  the  Shawnees,  Win- 
nebagoes,  Delawares  and  Miamis,  and  you  have  taken  our  lands 
froiu  us,  and  I  do  not  see  how  we  can  remain  at  peace  with  you 
if  jou  continue  to  do  so.  You  try  to  force  the  red  people  to  do 
some  injury.  It  is  you  that  are  pushing  them  on  to  do  mischief. 
Yc  a  wish  to  prevent  the  Indians  to  do  as  we  wish  them,  tc  unite 
and  let  them  consider  their  lands  as  the  common  property  of  the 
whole.  You  take  tribes  aside  and  advise  them  not  to  come  into 
this  measure.  The  reason  I  tell  you  this  is,  jou,  want,  by  your 
distinctions  of  Indian  tribes,  in  allotting  to  each  a  particular  tract, 
to  make  them  to  war  with  each  other.  You  never  see  an  Indian 
endeavor  to  make  tiie  white  people  do  so.  You  are  continually 
driving  the  red  peo]»le;  when  at  last  you  will  drive  them  onto  the 
great  lake,  when  they  can't  eit!:er  stand  or  work.  Since  my  resi- 
dence at  Tippecanoe,  we  have  endeavored  to  level  all  distinctions 
— to  destroy  village  chiefs,  by  whom  all  mischief  is  done.  It  is 
thev  who  sell  our  lands  to  Americans.  Brother,  this  land  that 
was  sold,  and  the  goods  tinit  were  given  tor  it,  was  only  done  by 
a  few.     The  treaty  wjis  afterward  brought  here  and  the  Weas  were 


24H  Rage  of  Tecumseh. 

induced  to  give  their  consent,  because  of  their  small  numbers. 
The  treaty  of  Fort  Wayne  was  made  througli  the  threats  of  Win- 
amae,  but  in  future  we  are  prepared  to  punish  those  who  may 
propose  to  sell  land.  If  you  continue  to  purciiase  of  them,  it  will 
make  war  among  tiie  different  tribes,  and  at  last  I  do  not  know 
what  will  be  the  consequence  among  the  white  people.  Brother, 
I  wish  you  would  take  pity  on  the  red  people  and  do  what  I  have 
requested.  If  you  will  not  give  up  the  hind,  and  do  cross  the 
boundary  of  your  present  settlement,  it  will  be  very  hard  andj)ro- 
duce  great  trouble  among  us.  How  can  we  have  confidence  in 
the  white  people?  When  Jesus  Christ  came  upon  the  earth  you 
killed  him  and  nailed  him  on  a  cross.  You  thought  he  was  dead, 
but  you  were  mistaken.  You  have  Shakers  among  you,  and  you 
laugh  and  make  light  of  their  worship.  Everything  I  have  said 
to  you  is  the  truth.  The  great  spirit  has  inspired  me.  If  you 
think  proper  to  give  us  any  presents,  and  we  can  be  convinced 
that  they  are  given  through  friendship  alone,  we  will  accept 
them."  * 

To  this  speech  Harrison  replied,  by  contrasting  the  conduct  of 
the  United  States  towards  the  Indians  with  that  of  other  civil- 
ized nations  towards  savages  within  their  jurisdi*„*^>on,  and  draw- 
ing a  comparison  favorable  to  the  United  States.  This  stung 
Tecumseh  to  the  quick,  and  he  leaped  to  his  feec  from  the  ground 
where  he  was  reposing,  and  with  violent  gesticulation  declared  that 
both  Governor  Harrison  and  the  United  States  had  cheated  the 
Indians.  A  number  of  his  party  sharing  his  feelings  of  resent- 
ment, sprang  to  his  side,  apparently  ready  to  attack  the  goveiMior 
and  his  party  on  the  spot.  General  Gibson,  who  was  then  secre- 
tary of  the  Territory,  instantly  brought  twelve  men  armed  with 
sabres  to  the  front,  while  Harrison  himself  firmly  grasped  the 
hilt  of  his  sword  and  boldly  confronted  the  angry  chief  and  his 
party,  whose  war  clubs,  tomahawks  and  spears  flashed  defiance. 
No  blow  was  struck,  but  Harrison  reproached  Tecumseh  for  his 
conduct,  and  requested  him  instantly  to  depart  to  his  camp,  say- 
ing at  the  same  time,  he  would  send  his  speech  to  his  tribe  in 
written  form.  The  next  morning  Tecumseh  made  apologies  for 
his  hasty  ebullition  of  fury,  and  begged  another  interview  with 
Harrison.  It  was  granted,  and  Tecumseh  by  his  respectful  de- 
meanor, made  ample  amends  for  his  misconduct  the  day  before. 

Nothing  was  settled  by  the  interview,  however,  but  at  the  close 
of  the  council  Tecumseh  hoped  that  the  Great  Spirit  would  put 
sense  enough  into  the  head  of  the  President  to  restore  the  lands 
in  question  to  the  Indians,  and  took  his  departure,  after  saying 
with  emphasis  to  Harrison:     "  He  may  sit  in  his  own  town  and 

•This  report  of  Tecumseh  s  speech  is  but  an  extract  embodying  his  strong 
points. 


Tecumseh  Seeks  Alliance  from  the  Southern  Tribes.    247 

drink  his  wine,  while  you  and  I  will  have  to  fight  it  out,"  The 
next  year  (1811),  on  the  24th  of  June,  Governor  Ilarrisoii  sent  Cap- 
tain Wilson  to  confer  vvitli  Tecumseh  at  Prophetstown,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  conciliating  the  still  dissatisfied  chief.  Tecumseh  received 
him  with  great  courtesy,  hut  eloquently  expatiated  on  the  causes  of 
which  the  Indians  complained,  and  promised  to  come  again  to  Yin- 
cennes  to  confer  with  Governor  Harrison  in  the  matter.  On  the 
27th  of  July  following  he  came,  attended  by  300  of  his  men. 
T^  ere  were  then  750  militia  ready  for  duty  in  Yincennes,  and  these 
were  placed  under  arms  ready  for  an  emergency.  Of  course  the 
interview  settled  nothing,  for  it  was  absurd  to  suppose  the  land 
that  had  been  purchased  of  single  tribes  could  ever  be  restored 
to  the  Indians,  and  nothing  short  of  this  would  satisfy  Tecumseh. 

Soon  after  this  conference  ended,  Tecumseh,  with  twenty 
attendants,  started  for  the  distant  country  of  the  Chickasaws, 
Creeks  and  Choctaws,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  their  alliance 
to  his  cause  in  a  conflict  which  he  felt  was  pending.  Meantime, 
the  English  agents  among  the  Indians  were  generous  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  presents  among  them.  There  was  a  belligerent  feel- 
ing at  that  time  between  tlie  English  and  American  people,  not 
only  on  account  of  old  scores,  but  new  issues  had  come  between 
the  two  nations,  brought  into  being  by  what  was  called  the 
Continental  System  in  Europe,  which  will  be  explained  in  the 
next  chapter,  and  its  eftects  were  felt  wherever  the  English  name 
was  known,  even  to  the  extreme  limits  of  the  frontiers  of  civiliza- 
tion in  the  forests  of  America,  where  the  unambitious  native, 
gaunt  with  hunger  and  offensive  with  dirt,  but  loyal  to  the 
ensign  of  St.  George,  was  ready  to  take  the  war-path  for  his 
English  father.  There  was  a  reason  for  this.  The  English  had 
everything  to  hope  for  in  his  friendship  and  nothing  to  lose. 

The  Americans  could  gain  nothing  by  his  friendship,  but  his 
enmity  would  be  a  pretext  by  which  to  deprive  him  of  the  soiL 
Under  this  duress,  the  unhappy  red  men  were  between  two  fires, 
fighting  the  battles  of  the  P]nglish  in  the  front,  only  to  be  for- 
saken in  the  distribution  of  victory's  spoils,  whichever  way  the 
cause  went.  While  the  issue  was  maturing  between  the  English 
and  Americans,  by  the  indiscretions  of  the  Prophet,  during 
Tecuinseh's  absence  to  bring  allies  to  his  cause,  the  inevitable 
outbreak  came  with  the  Indians,  On  the  17th  of  July,  1811,  the 
President  authorized  Harrison  to  summon  to  his  aid  the  fourth 
regiment  of  infantry,  under  command  of  Col.  Boyd.  On  the 
26th  of  September  the  army  took  up  its  march  toward  Prophets- 
town,  the  headquarters  of  the  P)-ophet.  Having  marched  sixty- 
five  miles  up  the  Wabash,  Fort  Harrison  was  built  on  the  5th  of 
October.     On  the  31st,  the  mouth  of  the  Yermillion   river  was 


248  Battle  of  Tippecanoe. 

reached,  where  a  block-house  was  built  for  the  protection  of  the 
baffiijaije. 

Agair  resuming  his  march  on  the  night  of  the  6th  of  Novem- 
ber, he  arrived  at  Tippecanoe,  which  was  situated  about  seven 
miles  northwest  of  the  present  city  of  Lafayette.  Here  Harrison 
was  met  by  a  delegation  from  the  camp  of  the  Prophet,  which 
was  but  a  sliort  distance  away,  where  a  thousand  braves  were  as- 
sembled, ready  to  make  a  dash  at  the  invaders  as  soon  as  a  favor- 
able moment  came.  All  liostile  intentions,  however,  were 
disavowed  on  both  sides,  but  Harrison  ordered  his  men  to  encamp 
that  night  in  order  of  battle,  with  their  clothes  on  and  their  arms 
by  their  side,  and  in  case  of  an  attack,  the  outermost  lines  were 
ordered  to  maintain  their  ground  till  reinforced.  At  the  Indian 
camp  all  was  silent  as  the  grav  "  Tecumseh  was  in  the  far  dis- 
tant south,  in  the  country  of  tiie  Cherokees,  and  had  given  his 
brother,  the  Prophet,  orders  not  to  commence  hostilities;  but  in 
his  raslmess  he  disregarded  them,  and  laid  his  plans  to  attack 
Harrison  the  next  morning.  Before  the  dawn  of  day  a  lieavy 
body  of  Indians  made  a  dash  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Americans. 
The  sentinels  were  driven  in,  and  the  conflict  was  carried  into 
the  very  camp  of  the  invaders.  In  a  few  minutes  the  wliole 
front,  both  flanks,  and  even  the  rear,  were  engaged. 

The  camp-flres  still  lit  up  the  grounds,  tor  daylight  had  not 
yet  come  to  the  relief  of  the  Americans,  and  the  Indians  poured 
a  destructive  fire  into  their  ranks  from  a  covert  of  darkness. 
With  admirable  coolness,  Harrison  ordered  the  fires  extinguished, 
which  placed  the  combattants  on  equal  terras.  Now,  hand-to- 
hand  encounters,  and  random  shots  through  the  outer  darkness, 
amidst  a  tumult  of  yells,  raged  along  the  whole  line  till  day- 
light. A  furious  charge  was  then  made  upon  the  Indians.  They 
receixe'i  it  witli  admirable  courage  at  first,  but  finally  fled  to  an 
adjacent  s.varap,  where  Harrison  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  fol- 
low them. 

The  Aui-jrican  loss  was  37  killed  and  151  wounded;  the  loss 
of  the  I  dians  was  somewhat  snialler. 

Tecumseh,  with  a  keen  insight  into  the  future,  had  not  intended 
to  precipitate  the  conflict  with  the  Americans  till  his  English 
friends  were  readv  to  render  him  more  substantial  aid,  and  when 
he  returned  home  and  learned  that  the  Prophet  had  disobeyed 
his  orders  by  making  the  first  attack,  and  of  the  disastrous 
results  of  it,  his  passions  rose  to  a  dangerous  pitch,  and  it  was 
with  difiiculty  he  could  be  restrained  from  killing  him  on  the 
spot.  After  the  battle,  the  Indian  stores  of  corn,  etc.,  at  Pro- 
phetstown  were  destroyed.  The  Prophet  lost  his  prestige  and 
nearly  all  the  difl'erent  tribes  of  Indians  were  inclined  towards 
peace.     Tecumseh  was  forced  iiito  a  lukewarm  acquiescence  in 


Illinois  Territory  Organised.  249 

this  state  of  things  among  his  people,  but  instead  of  their  talcing 
part  in  tlie  treaty  of  peace  which  followed,  went  to  Maiden,  in 
Canada,  to  take  council  with  his  British  friends,  but  the  end  was 
not  yet.  The  Tippecanoe  campaign  was  a  great  damage  to  the 
Indian  cause,  especially  as  its  result  was  disastrous  to  them,  and 
proved  an  effectual  barrier  to  the  Indian  confederacy  which 
Tecumseh  aimed  at  with  laudable  ambition,  as  the  only  means 
by  which  liis  people  could  be  preserved.  The  news  of  the  battle 
spreading  througii  the  country''  came  to  tlie  errs  of  John  Kinzie, 
at  Charme's  trading  post  (Ypsilnnti),  Mich.  He  was  on  his  way 
to  Detroit,  but  apprehensive  of  a  general  uprising  among  tlie 
Indians,  he  hastened  home  to  look  to  the  safety  of  his  family,  by 
further  strengthening  the  chain  of  friendship  with  the  Potta- 
watomies.* 

"While  the  events  of  the  late  campaign  had  been  maturing  to 
the  temporary  issue  at  Tippecanoe,  settlements  had  been  pro- 
gressing with  but  little  interruption,  for  the  late  battle  was  a 
sudden  spasm  of  fu-ocity,  which  the  Prophet  had  prematurely 
thrust  into  the  arena,  before  Tecumseh's  favorite  plan  of  an  Indian 
confederacy  had  been  executed,  and  no  warning  against  border 
war  had  come  to  tlie  ears  of  emigrants.  Nor  had  legislation 
suspended  its  progressive  action  respecting  the  political  progress 
of  the  Western  territory,  Congress  having,  on  February  3d.  1809, 
constituted  the  new  Territory  of  Illinois.  On  the  east  it  was 
bounded  by  the  "Wabash  river  from  its  mouth  to  Vincennes, 
thence  by  a  line  due  nortli  to  the  Canada  line  (which  line,  of 
course,  would  cross  lake  Michigan  lengthwise),  on  the  north  by 
the  British  Possessions,  en  the  west  by  the  Mississippi  river,  and 
on  the  south  by  the  Ohio,  between  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  and 
the  junction  of  the  Ohio  with  the  Mississippi. 

Ninian  Edwards  was  transferred  from  the  post  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  Kf  I'ucky  to  the  Governor's  chair  of  the  new  Territory, 
and  Nathaniel  Pope,  whose  home  was  already  at  Kaskaskia,  was 
appointed  SL^cretary  by  President  Madison.  Early  in  March  Mr. 
Pope  organized  the  Territory,  and  the  following  June,  on  the 
11th,  Mr.  Edwards  iook  his  seat  as  governor  at  Kaskaskia.  The 
code  of  Indiana  Territory,  unaer  wliich  the  inhabitants  had  lived 
for  the  eight  years  previous,  was  at  lirst  adopted,  but  soon  after- 
wards detailed  penalties  were  affixed  for  the  punishment  of 
every  possible  form  of  oflense,  some  of  which  have  long  since 
been  repealed  as  unwarrantable.  St.  Clair  and  Eandolph  were 
the  first  two  counties  organized.  Their  limits  can  hardly  bo 
given,  in  the  great  waste  of  unsettled  domain  over  which  the 
jurisdiction  of  Illinois  then  extended. 
•Wabun,  p.  217.  — .^^_ 


25('  Great  Earthquake. 

The  extreme  soutliern  portions  of  tlie  State  were  sparsely 
sprinkled  over  witli  new  settlements  from  Viii>-inia  and  Ken- 
tucky. St.  Louis  was  a  thriving  town,  largely  composed  of 
French  fur  traders.  Fort  Madison  had  been  built  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  where  the  city  of  the  same  name  now 
stands  in  Iowa.  Prairie  Du  Chien,  then  a  tlirifty  trading  post, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin  river,  was  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  new  territory,  as  well  as  La  Pointe  and  Green  Ba}',  while 
Chicago  was  only  known  as  an  Indian  portage,  and  the  locality 
of  a  weakly  garrisoned  fort. 

At  Peoria  was  a  French  village,  established  after  a  hyatus  of 
many  years  since  LaSalle  first  built  Fort  Crevcco'eur  there. 

This  second  founding  was  of  an  uncertain  date,  but  it  was 
many  years  subsequent  to  the  settlement  of  the  French  villages 
of  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia. 

Besides  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  three  rem:n-l<able  events  oc- 
curred during  the  year  1811  in  the  northwtvt.  A  severe  frost 
almost  entirely  destroyed  the  corn  crop.  The  first  steamboat 
that  ever  made  its  appearance  on  Western  waters  made  a  trip 
from  Pittsburgh,  where  she  was  built,  to  New  Orleans  ;  and  a 
violent  earthquake  was  felt  throughout  the  entire  country.  It 
took  place  in  December,  and  continued  several  days  in  a  succes- 
sion of  violent  shocks  of  the  ground,  lashing  the  forest  trees 
against  each  other  with  fearful  violence.  At  times,  through 
opening  fissures  in  the  ground,  steam  hissed  out  like  the  escape- 
ment of  pent  up  and  heated  vapors,  during  which  phenomenon 
loud  reports,  like  the  muffled  sounds  of  tliunder,  continued  to 
peal  forth  as  if  from  an  invisible  source.  It  was  felt  the  severest 
at  New  Madrid,  on  the  Mississippi,  where  a  large  area  of  land 
sunk  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and.  to  fill  the  chasm,  the  Mis- 
sissippi from  below  flowed  backwards  for  some  hours. 


,4 

i 


CHAPTEK  XVL 

Jay^s  treaty  of  VJ^4i — Its  Beneficial  Effects — Decrees  of  Berlin 
and  Milan — Retaliatory  English  Orders — I'he  Continental 
System — America  Victimized  hy  it — The  Embargo  and  non- 
Intercourse  Acts — Fruitless  Jyegotiation  between  England 
and  the  United  States — Complications  with  France — The 
French  Decrtcs  Bevohed — The  United  States  Declare  War 
Against  England- — The  British  on  the  LaJces — General  Hull 
Beaches  Detroit  with  an  Army — Crosses  into  Canada — Be- 
connoisance  of  Colonel  Cass — First  Hostile  Shot  in  the  War 
of  1S12 — General  Hull  Beturns  to  Detroit — Michiliinacinac 
Tal-en  by  the  English — Tecurnseh  in  the  British  Service — 
Indian  Baid  on  Lee's  Place — Panic  at  Chicago — General 
Hull  at  Detroit — He  Crosses  the  Biver  into  Canada — His 
Perplexities — Ilis  Surrender. 

Jay's  treaty  of  1794  has  already  been  alluded  to.  A  brief 
.detail  of  the  conditions  which  brought  it  into  being  from  the 
master  mind  that  took  within  its  grasp  those  conditions,  and  firsi 
caused  the  rights  of  America,  as  a  member  of  the  family  of 
nations,  to  be  acknowledged  by  England,  forms  a  bright  page  in 
American  history,  and  inasmuch  as  the  most  vital  part  of  these 
conditions  grew  into  being  in  the  Northwest,  a  record  of  them 
will  here  be  made. 

After  the  peace  of  1783,  which  guaranteed  to  us  simple  inde- 
pendence only,  the  United  States  lound  themselves  but  a  loosely 
bound  confederacy  of  thirteen  colonies,  without  ever  a  constitu- 
tion. The  English  court  did  not  even  honor  us  with  a  minister 
till  1789,  and  all  the  while  excluded  our  commerce  from  all  their 
colonial  ports,  thereby  forcing  American  merchants  to  trade 
largely  through  English  channels,  under  the  monopolizing  systeni 
that  she  had  established  by  means  of  her  armament  on  the  high 
seas,  directed  by  her  laws  of  trade.*    Her  vessels  of  war  seemed 

*  In  1744.  England  laid  the  foundation  for  her  unexampled  prosperity  as  a 
trading  nation  by  establishing  a  maxim,  monopolizing  all  the  trade  of  her  col- 
onies to  herself.  In  1760,  the  machinery  for  enforcing  these  conditions  became 
still  more  perfect,  and  the  United  States  were  up  to  1794,  circumscribed  within 
its  toils. 


252  Decrees  of  Berlin  and  Mian.  ' 

almost  omnipresent.  They  swept  the  American  lakes  and  con- 
stantly supplied  their  forts,  then  lield  on  Aineiican  soil,  and  from 
these  forts  they  supplied  the  Indians  with  all  the  material  they 
wanted  wherewith  to  make  the  horder  a  scene  of  strife  and  blood- 
fihed.  This  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  Western  people  in 
particular,  and  embittered  tlie  whole  nation  against  England. 
Still  war  was  imjiossible,  for  we  had  no  means  out  of  which  to 
establish  it.  Under  these  circumstances,  even  while  struo:£'linor 
to  allay  dissentions  at  home  consequent  upon  uniting  under  a 
constitution  and  contending  against  povert\'  and  an  onerous 
public  debt,  Washington  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  a  treaty 
to  establish  our  commercial  relations  on  a  firmer  and  more  profit- 
able basis,  selected  Mr.  Jay  as  the  fitt-^st  one  to  negotiate  it. 

Ilis  task  was  a  difiicultone.  As  to  any  commercial  relations, 
the  English  already  had  everything  as  they  wanted  it,  and  were 
reluctant  to  enter  into  any  obligations  which  could  bring  noth- 
ing to  them. 

I3ut  Mr.  Jay  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  His  accomplish- 
meuts  challenged  the  respect  of  the  English  minister,  and  secured 
the  signing  of  his  famous  treaty  of  1794,  by  which  American 
vessels  were  first  allowed  to  trade  direct  with  the  East  Indies  and 
•other  British  dependencies.  This  was  all  that  could  be  expected 
in  a  pecuniary  vay.  Next  came  the  points  of  honor,  so  vital  to 
the  western  spirit  of  independence  which  was  that  the  English 
should  relinquish  the  western  posts.  This  point  they  also  con- 
ceded on  the  terms  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  the  treaty 
was  signed  in  London,  November  19th,  1794,  and  promptly  rati- 
fied hy  Washington.  A  lucrative  trade  immediately  sprung  up 
as  a  consequence  of  the  treaty,  and  continued  till  the  sanguinary 
character  which  tlie  war  between  England  and  France  afterwards 
assumed,  transcended  the  comity  of  nations,  and  swept  away  not 
■only  all  treaty  rights,  but  the  natural  rights  of  neutrals. 

Eleven  years  after  Jay's  treaty,  1805,  England  destroyed  the 
French  fleet  at  Trafalgar,  after  which  all  opj)osition  to  lier  on  the 
ocfiui  vanished — not  a  French  vessel  daring  to  come  within  the 
reacli  of  her  guns.  Meantime,  tlie  eyes  of  the  world  turned  to- 
wards the  conquests  of  Naj)(»U'on  on  tlie  land.  The  victories  of 
Austerlitz  and  Jena  made  iiiin  aster  of  Southen  Europe,  and 
from  Berlin,  the  capital  of  Prus-  <  in  November,  180(3,  he  issued 
decrees,  followed  by  tlie  decrees  oi"  Milan  early  the  next  year, 
the  objects  of  which  were  to  undenn''^'^  the  power  of  England. 
These  decrees  made  not  only  British  •  :•  is  and  goods  liable  to 
confiscation  in  the  ])ort8  o/  France  Huo  her  allies,  but,  also,  the 
ships  and  goods  of  neutrals  bound  for  English  ])ort8. 

To  counteract  the  effect  of  this  blow  aimed  at  the  vital  foun- 
tains of  lier  prosperity,  England    issueti   ia   November,  1807, 


The  Embargo  ami  N on- Intercourse  Acts.  253 

plenary  orders  for  the  confisciition  of  ships  and  goods  bound  for 
the  ports  of  France  and  her  allies,  from  wherever  they  might 
come;  and  her  ability  to  execute  these  orders  made  them  effec- 
tive, and  ultimately  recoiled  with  force  against  Napoleon,  the 
prime  mover  in  this  attempt  to  light  natural  destiny.  The 
United  States  was  victimized  by  the  decrees  of  both  nations,  par- 
ticularly by  the  English  orders,  among  which  were  the  following: 

"  All  trade  directly  from  America  to  every  port  and  country 
in  Europe,  at  war  with  Great  Britain,  is  totally  prohibited.  All 
articles,  whether  ^f  domestic  or  colonial  produce  exported  by 
America  to  Europe,  must  be  landed  in  England,  from  whence  it 
is  intended  to  permit  their  re-exportation  under  such  regulations 
as  may  hereafter  be  determined."  Such  was  the  Continental 
System.  It  embraced  within  its  toils  an  issue,  vital  to  the  inter- 
ests of  any  part  of  the  world  that  wished  to  trade  with  England 
or  France,  or  their  allies,  and  with  dogged  resolution  these  Ti- 
tanic powers  watched  both  sea  and  land  to  augment  the  force  of 
war  by  their  extreme  as  well  as  novel  measures. 

Smarting  under  its  eftects,  the  United  States  dipped  her  oar 
into  the  great  sea  of  hostile  diplomacy,  by  passing  the  Embargo 
Act  of  December,  1807,  and  the  Non-intercourse  Act  of  March, 
1S09.  These  acts,  together  with  certain  municipal  regulations 
which  preceded  them,  were  designed,  first  to  prohibit  certain 
articles  of  foreign  importation,  and  finally  to  cut  off  all  exporta- 
tion to  England  and  France,  by  withdrawing  American  com- 
merce from  those  countries,  under  an  impression  that  they  could 
not  carry  on  their  wars  without  our  bread  supplies,  and  would  as 
a  measure  of  compromise,  modify  their  iudiscriuiinate  laws 
against  trade  so  as  to  admit  our  vessels  to  their  jiorts.  It  required 
no  small  measure  of  sacrifice  to  take  these  steps.  The  people 
had  been  enriching  themselves  out  of  the  misfortunes  of  Luro]>e 
in  their  disuse  of  the  plow,  and  sanguinary  practise  of  tiie 
sword,  but  now  this  source  of  wealth  was  entirely  cut  off  by 
th<.ir  own  acts,  which,  instead  of  improving  their  condition, 
made  it  worse.  The  resentment  of  France  was  aroused,  and  the 
April  following  the  Einbargo  Act  she  passed  the  decrees  of  JJay- 
onne,  and  later  those  of  llambouillet,  by  which  every  American 
vessel  in  French  ports  were  la.vful  prizes.  The  ai^)ology  for  this 
act  was,  that  any  American  vessels  in  their  ports  were  there  in 
violatioii  of  the  Embargo  Act,  and  consefjuently  were  iiritish 
property  (a  deduction  that  liung  on  an  uncertain  contingency, 
and  exhibited  more  defiance  tlum  discretion). 

England,  armed  with  iron-dad  dignity,  took  but  little  notice 
of  these  retaliatory  measures  of  theUnite<l  States,  but  continued 
her  right  of  search  and  its  coJisequent  impressment  of  American 
Beamen  nito  her  service,  ft  very  questionable  prerogative  that  she 


1^#         limitless  Negotiation  for  Commercial  Rights. 

liad  ncYer  abandoned  since  our  colonial  vassalage,  if  lier  necessities 
required  its  practice.  The  collosal  proportions  wliich  the  war 
between  England  and  France  had  now  assumed,  by  which  they 
were  dailv  weakeninj;  each  other,  niav  have  extended  the  limit  ot 
.Vmerican  forbearance  to  declare  war  ;  instead  of  doing  which  she 
made  an  ofter  to  England  to  rescind  her  embargo  and  non-inter- 
course acts,  if  she,  England,  would  abolish  her  orders  of  1807. 

This  offer  England  rejected,  on  the  ground  that  she  would  not 
accept  a  favor  t^om  America  which  might  benefit  France. 

Under  this  duress  the  United  States  were  placed  in  a  position 
in  which  they  must  either  bear  their  grievances  with  patience,  or 
commit  the  absurdity  of  declaring  war  against  two  nations  at  war 
with  each  other.  The  following  abstract  of  a  re])ort  made  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  in  November,  1809,  will  show  the  com- 
plex attitude  of  our  grievances  which  had  thus  far  set  negotiation 
at  defiance  : 

"•  The  aggressions  of  England  and  France,  affecting  almost  the 
whole  of  our  commerce,  are  no  less  than  a  war  waged  by  both 
nations  against  our  trading  interests.  It  is  evident  that  the  only 
effectual  way  of  resistance  is  war.  A  permanent  suspension  of 
•commerce,  after  repeated  and  nnavailing  efforts  to  obtain  peace, 
would  not  properl}'  be  resistance.  It  would  be  withdrawing  from 
the  contest  and  abandoning  an  indisputable  right  to  navigate  the 
ocean.  The  present  unsettled  state  of  the  world,  the  extraordi- 
nary situation'  in  which  the  United  States  are  placed,  and  the 
necessity,  if  war  be  resorted  to,  of  making  it  against  the  two 
most  powerful  nations  of  the  world,  are  the  causes  of  hesitation.'' 
Matters  remained  in  these  phases  of  discttntent  till  1810,  up  to 
which  time  several  years  of  fruitless  diplomacy  had  been  v:asted 
in  vain  attempts  to  restore  American  commerce  to  its  natural 
rights  in  the  family  of  nations.  Two  different  coniprojnises,  al- 
most concluded  between  England  and  the  United  States,  had  been 
broken  off,  one  by  the  Piesidentof  the  United  States,  because  it 
did  not  relinquish  the  right  of  search,  and  the  other  by  the  Eng- 
lish King,  because  his  Minister,  i\Ir.  Erskine,  had  exceeded  his 
instructions  as  to  its  terms.  Mr.  Jefferson,  then  President,  drew 
upon  himself  much  censure  from  the  New  England  States  for'^ 

*.Iefferson's  mission  to  France  terminatinjr  in  1789.  liad  well  nigh  tiirnfd  his 
brain,  aiul  made  it  impossible  tor  him  to  look  with  ciuulor  upon  the  issue  that 
then  hunjr  over  the  country — so  prejudiced  was  he  in  favor  of  the  extreme 
rights  of  man,  as  promul<;ated  by  the  Kevoluiionary  spirit,  of  France  in  that 
eventful  period,  xhis  accounts  for  his  rejection  of  the  compromise  of  Enfrlimd 
without  consulting  the  senate.  Naturally  inclined  to  espouse  the  cause  of  tlie 
people  and  gain  popular  applause,  he  became  the  (h<iin|(ion  of  Hadic.il  democ- 
racy in  America,  and  accused  Washington,  Hamilton,  .lohn  Adams,  and  the 
whole  body  of  Federalists,  of  bcinp  Anglo-Monanhii'  Aristocrats — fiiends  of 
England  and  enemies  of  France  ui  their  contest.  See  liis  letter  to  Maz/.cti, 
dated  Monticello,  April  24th,  1796.  It  is  published  ofiicially  in  the  proceedings 
•of  the  Hartford  Convention.—  [AuTiio  , 


Repeal  of  The  French  Decrees.  2")5 

rojcetiiiof  tins  compromise  (the  former)  witliout  allowing  it  to 
L'oiue  before  the  Senate,  wliich  was  then  in  session.  Its  provis- 
ions conceded  all  the  United  States  asked  for  except  the  clanse  as 
to  impressment,  and  on  this  ])oint  the  British  Government  had 
given  Mr.  Mgiiroe  and  Mr.  Pinkney,  onr  Peace  ( "omissioners, 
informal  assurance  that  its  practice  sliould  be  abandoned. 

This  satisfied  the  New  England  mind,  w-hieh  was  ready  to  seize 
upon  any  plausible  pretext  as  a  basis  of  peace  by  which  to  bridge 
over  the" war  spirit  of  the  times  till  more  considerate  counsels 
could  be  listened  to. 

Pending  this  turmoil,  the  grip  of  Napoleon's  decrees  which 
had  fastened  upon  all  the  nations  of  Europe,  except  Turkey  and 
Sweden,  besran  to  weaken.  Euijligh  jjoods  found  their  way  al- 
most  everywhere  through  clandestine  channels,  and  it  became 
evident  that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  were  a  failure.  As  a 
proof  of  this,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1810,  M.  de  Chanipagny, 
the  Erench  Minister  of  Eoreign  Affairs,  proposed  to  the  Ameri- 
can Minister  in  Paris  to  repeal  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  on 
the  same  conditions  that  had  been  proposed  by  the  United  States 
herself  two  years  before,  and  also  accepted  on  the  part  of  the 
English  Minister,  but  rejected  by  the  Crown. 

These  terms  were  substantially  that  all  hostile  legislation  as  to 
international  trade  should  cease  on  both  sides.  This  proposition 
was  hailed  with  delight  by  Mr.  Madison,  who  had  succeeded 
Jetferfcon  as  president. 

A  message  was  issued  to  take  the  necessary  action  by  w'hich 
the  proposal  should  brcome  a  permanent  international  law.  But 
various  complex  conditions  were  brought  to  the  surface  by  the 
British,  relative  to  how  far  this  comity  extended  to  Erance  should 
afttct  the  interests  of  England. 

Erance  meantime  did  re])eal  her  obnoxious  decrees,  at  least 
upon  the  contingency  that  the  United  States,  after  opening  com- 
mercial relations  with  herself,  should  still  enforce  her  commer- 
cial restrictions  against  England,  unless  that  power  should  fully 
revoke  her  orders  of  1807.  Accordingly  by  olticial  notice  of  the 
Erench  revocation  of  the  decrees  bearing  date  of  November 
1st.  1810  (which  embodied  all  her  otl'ensive  legislation  against 
American  trade),  was  duly  sent  to  the  United  States,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Moniteur^  the  otiicial  organ  of  the  Erench  court  at 
Paris,  but  no  notice  of  it  was  sent  to  the  English  court.  Sub- 
sequently, some  American  vessels,  either  through  ignorance 
or  design,  were  seized  as  prizes  by  the  Erench.  Eroiii  these  cir- 
cumstances, and  in  default  of  tbe  formality  of  a  notice  of  revo- 
cation, the  English  insisted  that  the  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees 
were  still  in  force.  During  the  progress  of  these  conciliator}' 
overtures  from  the  Erench  nation,  a  strong  appeal  was  made  by 


2;><)  War  Declared  Against  England. 

tlie  Americans  to  tlie  English  Court  to  repeal  their  orders  of 
18u7,  on  the  ground  that  the  French  decrees  had  already  been 
repealed.  On  tlie  3(»th  of  May,  1812,  a  final  reply  was  made  by 
England  to  this  appeal,  from  which  the  following  is  taken: 

''  The  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  have  never  been  revoked. 
Some  partial  and  insidious  relaxations  of  them  may  have  been 
made  in  a  few  instances,  as  an  encouragement  to  America  to 
adopt  a  system  beneficial  to  France  and  injurious  to  Great  Brit- 
ain, while  the  conditions  on  which  alone  it  has  been  declared, 
that  those  decrees  will  ever  be  revoked,  are  here  explained  and 
amplified  in  a  manner  to  leave  no  hope  of  Bonaparte  having  any 
disposition  to  renounce  the  system  of  injustice  which  he  has 
pursued,  so  as  to  make  it  possible  for  Great  Britain  to  give  up 
those  defensive  measures  she  has  been  obliged  to  resort  to.  * 
*  *  It  is  now  manifest  that  there  was  never  more  than  a  con- 
ditional oft'er  of  repeal  made  by  France,  which  we  had  a  right  to 
complain  that  America  should  have  asked  us  to  recognize  as 
absolute,  and  which,  if  accepted  in  its  extent  by  America,  would 
only  have  formed  fresh  matter  of  complaint,  and  a  new  ground 
for  declining  her  demands."  This  final  reply  of  the  English 
court  was  in  justification  of  the  declaration  made  by  her  the 
previous  month,  as  follows:  "  If  at  any  time  hereafter  the 
Berlin  and  Milan  decrees  shall,  by  some  authentic  act  of  the 
French  governnumt,  publicly  promulgated,  be  expressly  and 
unconditionally  revoked,  then  the  order  in  council  of  the  7th  of 
January,  ISOT,  shall  be  revoked." 

To  make  amends  for  past  grievances  against  America,  niiist 
have  been  the  incentive  of  France  in  abolishing  her  decrees,  l)ut 
it  may  well  be  doubted  that  England  was  to  share  any  of  the 
benefits  of  this  measure,  inasmuch  as  the  two  countries  were  ftill 
at  war  with  each  other.  That  the  ambiguous  demeaiK)r  of 
France  towards  England  in  this  aflPair  grew  out  of  a  desire  to 
bring  about  a  war  between  England  and  the  United  States,  was 
evident,  from  the  arch  diplomacy  which  preceded  it,  healing,  as 
it  did,  the  difi'erences  between  their  own  nations.  Meantime, 
the  latcofiicial  action  of  the  English  had  indefinitely  postponed 
the  time  when  she  would  repeal  her  laws  against  the  rights  of 
neutrals,  and  notwithstanding  the  New  Enghuid  pe<)|»le  were  in 
favor  of  peace,  the  tenacity  of  the  English  in  adhering  to  their 
orders  turned  the  scale. 

The  United  States  were  now  relieved  from  complications  with 
France,  and  ini'.smuch  as  England  had  given  no  encouragemeiii; 
that  her  rigid  restrictions  on  our  commerce,  or  her  unjust  im- 
pressment of  American  seamen  wouUl  be  discontinued,  the 
Unite<l  States  hesitated  no  longer,  and  declared  war  against  Eng- 
land June  Ibth,  1812. 


The  Issue  of  The  War.  257 

That  the  declaration  was  premature,  inasiiiiicli  as  tlie  United 
States  had  made  no  preparation  for  war,  tlie  disastrous  results  of 
the  first  campaign  fully  ])roved,  and  yet  to  add  to  the  complexity 
of  our  position,  the  declaration  might  have  been  made  with  equal 
propriety  any  time  within  the  four  years  previous,  Ijut  for  our 
complications  with  France.  I^Tevcr  before  in  the  history  of  en- 
lightened nations  did  such  a  juxta  as  well  as  absurd  issue  result 
in  war.  The  sword  was  drawn  to  fi<;ht  England  under  a  lust 
sense  of  resentment  for  grievous  practices  that  she  (England)  was 
willing  to  apologize  for,  as  well  as  to  discontinue,  but  would  not 
condescend  to  enter  into  a  treaty  to  do  so.  The  summing  up  of 
the  cause  between  the  two  nations  centered  in  the  following  two 
points  :  First,  as  to  the  impressment  of  American  seamen,  which 
England  gave  our  commissioners,  Mr.  Monroe  and  Mr.  Pinckney 
assurance  should  be  discontinued.  Second,  the  English  oi'ders 
in  council  against  our  commerce,  which  England  offered  to  re- 
voke as  soon  as  Napoleon  should  revoke  the  decrees  of  Berlin 
and  Milan,  an  act  which  the  United  States  contended  had  already 
been  executed,  and  which  act  oidy  lacked  a  bit  of  red  tape  (to  use 
a  metaphor)  to  satisfy  the  English  ministers.  I'ut  even  this  gos- 
samer fabric  of  formality  vanished  from  the  ]jiglish  mind  tive 
days  after  the  American  declaration  of  war,  at  which  time  (the 
23d  of  June)  the  English  did  formally  revoke  the  obnoxious  or- 
ders, in  consequence  of  which  the  Americans  had  drawn  the 
sword.  But  the  sword  was  drawn,  and  could  not  very  well  be 
sheathed  till  old  scores  were  avenged.  Several  thousand  x\meri- 
can  citizens,  the  victims  of  impressment,  were  unwillingly  fight- 
ing the  battles  of  the  English,  whose  fathers  and  -brotiiers  at 
home  called  loudly  for  revenge,  and  many  a  pioneer  had  fallen 
a  victim  to  the  seal  ping-knife,  which  had  been  forged  on  British 
anvils.  The  British  fleet  held  full  command  of  the  lakes,  and 
the  various  tribes  of  Indians  adjacent  had  for  years  been  subsi- 
dized by  presents  and  honeyed  words  into  friendship  for  them. 
It  was,  therefore,  evident  th:  t  along  these  waters  tlu^  Ib-itish 
were  the  strongest,  and  here  u'  f;  first  blow  was  to  be  struck.  De- 
troit was  then  the  most  impor.ant  post  which  the  Americans 
held  West.  General  Hull,  an  officer  of  the  American  Kevoiu- 
tion,  was  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan,  which  had  been 
organized  in  1805,  and  now  contained  about  5,000  inhabitants,  and 
to  him  was  given  the  command  of  the  troops  destined  for  defensive 
and  offensive  operations  on  the  Upper  Lakes.  A  small  gjirrison  of 
United  States  troops  was  stationed  at  Michilimacinac  and  one  at 
Chicago,  which  were  the  extreme  outposts  of  the  Americans. 

Two  months  previous  to  the  declaration  of  war,  the  President 
had  (u-dered  Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio,  to  raise  1,000  men  for  the 
Western  service. 


258  General  Hull  at  The  Maumee  Rapids. 

This  lie  promptly  did,  and  adding  300  more  to  the  nnmber, 
handed  them  ever  to  General  Hull  at  Dayton,  with  a  patriotic 
speech,  at  the  close  of  which  the  vohmteers  uncovered,  and  gave 
him  six  rousing  cheers. 

Agreeable  to  his  oiders,  General  Hull  took  up  his  march  for 
Detroit  at  the  head  of  his  little  army.     The  route  over  which  he 
was  to  travel  had  already  been  made  famous  by  the  St.  Clair  and 
Wayne  campaigns,  the  scene  of  whose  battle-fields  he  passed,  and 
arrived  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Maumee  on  the  30th  of  June,  twelve 
days  alter  the  war  had  been  declared,  but  of  this  he  was  igno- 
rant.    Here  he  rested  his  men,  near  the  ruins  of  the  old  fort 
which  the  British  had  built  eighteen  years  before,  which  had 
never  served  any  purpose,  but  to  amuse  the  Indians  and  inflame 
the  resentment  of  the  Americans.     The  route  thence  to  Detroit 
lay  eighteen  miles  down  the  Maumee  river,  across  the  Western 
extremity  of  Lake  Erie,  and  up  the  Detroit  river.     Maiden  was 
then  the  most  important  pos.  of  the  British  on  the  Upper  Lakes. 
Ever  since  they  had  evacuated  the  forts  on  the  American  side  in 
1796,  it  had  been  headquarters  for  the  distribution  ci' Indian  pres- 
ents wliere  the  Western  tribes  had  assembled  annually  to  receive 
their  blankets,  tobacco,  knives,  etc.,  and  here  the  British  ha^l 
built  a  fleet  of  war  vessels,  which  menaced  the  Americans  on  our 
entire  lake  frontier.     It  was  situated  on  the  Canadian  side  of  the 
main  channel  of  the  Detroit  river,  and  commanded  its  most  di- 
rect passage.     As  ill-fortune  would  have  it,  while  resting  at  the 
Kapids  on  the  1st  of  July,  General  Hull  despatched  a  schooner 
and  a  boat  to  Detroit  in  advance  of  his  army,  which  was  to  reach 
the  place  by  land.     On  board  the  schooner  were  a  few  invalids, 
the  hospital  stores,  and  a  trunk,  containing  his  olticial  papers 
from  Washington.     During  the  succeeding  night  the  schooner 
passed  the  boat,  leaving  lie-  behind,  and  kept  on  her  course.   The 
next  day  she  entered  the  D  troit  river,  and  coming  in  sight  of 
the  Hunter,  an  English  armed  brig,  she  was  obliged  to  surrender. 
The  boat  fortunately  reached  her  destination  unobserved  by  the 
English,  she  having  by  chance  taken  the  channel  of  the  river 
West  of  Boisblanc  Island.    The  day  after  the  schooner  lett  the 
Rapids  a  messenger  came  to  the  quarters  of  General  Hull  \'ith 
a  letter,  of  which  he  was  the   bearer,  from  the  Postmaster  at 
Cleveland.     Its  contents  ran  as  follows  :     "  Sir  : — War  is  de- 
clared against  Great  Britain.     You  will  be  on  your  guard.    Pro- 
ceed to  your  post  (Detroit)  with  all  possible  expedition.     Make 
such  airangements  for  the  defense  of  the  country  as  in  your  judg- 
ment may  be  necessary,  and  wait  for  further  orders." 

This  was  from  the  War  Department  at  Washington,  and  bore 
date  June  18th.  Eight  days  previously  he  had  received  des- 
patches from  the  War  Department,  through  a  different  source, 


•  General  Hull  at  Detroit.        ,  259 

making  no  mention  of  the  declaration  of  war,  an  oversight  on 
the  part  of  the  Secretary  as  inexcusaljle  as  it  was  mysterious. 

General  Hull  now  made  haste  to  march  for  Detroit,  and 
reached  the  place  on  the  7th.  Here  he  remained  till  the  12tli, 
when  he  crossed  over  to  the  Canada  shore  with  his  wl  ole  army, 
and  issued  a  spirited  proclamation  to  the  French  subjects  of 
Oreat  Britain,  who  lived  in  the  country,  many  of  whom  gave  in 
their  allegiance  to  his  standard.  "  On  to  Maiden  !  "  was  now  the 
watchword  that  prevailed  in  his  arm}-,  but  the  extreme  caution 
of  the  commanding  General  forbade  this,  especially  as  his  last  in- 
structions were  to  go  to  Detroit,  and  wait  orders.  On  the  15th, 
however,  orders  reached  him  from  Washington  to  take  the  of- 
fensive. A  reconnoisance  of  280  men,  under  command  of  Col. 
•Cass,  was  sent  towards  the  place.  Five  miles  from  it  they  en- 
countered an  outpost  of  the  enemy  guarding  a  bridge,  crossing 
Duck  Creek,  and  here  the  war  of  1812  began  in  a  spirited  skirin- 
ish,  in  which  some  accounts  state  that  ten  Britishers  were  killed. 
A  doiibttul  assertion  that  a  handful  of  picket  men  shonld  have 
left  that  many  dead  on  the  ground  before  falling  back  from 
before  a  surperior  force. 

General  Isaac  Brock  was  Governor  of  Upper  Canada  at  this 
time,  whose  dashing  activity'  proved  to  be  more  than  a  match  for 
General  Hull's  excessive  caution. 

As  soon  as  war  had  been  declared,  he  planned  out  his  campaign, 
and  Michilimacinac  was  the  first  place  to  be  attacked.  At  the 
foot  of  the  rapids  of  the  St  Marys,  on  the  Canadian  side,  forty- 
five  miles  north  of  the  place,  was  the  British  post  of  St.  Joseph, 
garrisoned  by  two  companies  of  Canadians  and  a  few  British 
regulars.  Capt.  Roberts,  \vho  held  command  of  this  post,  was 
the  one  to  whom  the  execution  of  the  scheme  had  been  confided. 
Besides  his  own  entire  command,  he  enlisted  in  his  ranks  all  the 
loose  material  which  the  English  Fur  Company  could  bring  to  his 
service,  and  in  order  to  insure  success  beyond  a  doubt,  he  ac- 
cepted the  service  of  600  Indians  from  his  immediate  neighbor- 
Jiood.  "Everything  being  in  readiness  on  the  16th  of  July,  his 
forces  embarked  in  their  batteaux,  crossed  the  strait,  and 
reached  the  Island  of  Michilimacinac  before  daybreak.  The  fort 
stood  on  a  bluff  rock,  on  the  southeast  shore,  nearly  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  sparkling  waters  that  chafed  and  foamed  about  its 
base.  The  original  forest  with  which  the  island  had  been  cov- 
ered had  been  cut  down  for  fuel,  and  in  its  place  a  thicket  of 
second  growth  covered  the  ground.  At  nine  o'clock  Lieut.  P. 
Hanks,  the  commander  of  tlie  fort,  beheld  with  astonishment 
such  formidable  numbers  of  British  taking  position  on  a  rocky 
height,  within  cannon  shot  of  his  fort,  while  the  wooded 
grounds  around  were  alive  with  Indians. 


260  Mic?i'dimacina<;  Taken  hy  The  British. 

The  guns  of  the  fort  were  shotto.l,  and  evervtliing:  made  readv 
for  a  desperate  defense  by  the  coinmfuidiiig  otiicer,  who  all  the 
wliile  was  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  hostile  demonstrations;  but 
at  half-past  eleven  o'clock  the  mystery  was  exjtlained  by  a  mes- 
sage under  a  flag  of  truce.  "  AV^ar  had  been  declared,"  said  the 
unexpected  visitor,  and  the  surrender  of  the  fort  and  island  was 
demanded.  To  defend  it  would  have  been  a  vain  attempt,  and 
the  command  was  reluctantly  complied  with,  and  liis  entire 
force  (57  men),  including  otiicers,  became  war  prisoners.  The 
village  on  the  island  numbered  over  300,  all  l)ut  three  or  four  of 
whom  were  Canadians  or  half  breeds,  who  felt  quite  at  home  under 
a  British  flag,  as  well  as  the  countless  hordes  of  Indians,  who 
gathered  about  the  place  every  summer  to  sell  their  winter's 
catch  of  furs,  enjoy  the  s-alubrious  air,  and  eat  the  easily  caught 
flsh. 

Michilimacinac  was  then  regarded  as  the  most  important  post 
in  the  northwest,  except  Detroit.  It  had  an  annual  export  trade 
of  furs,  amounting  to  §240,000,  and  the  custom  house  duties 
on  imports  were  about  $50,000  per  annum.  This  successful 
opening  of  the  war,  on  the  part  of  the  British,  fired  the  heart  of 
the  Indians,  and  made  them  flock  to  the  standard  of  their  British 
father. 

Tecumseh  was  already  in  the  field,  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a 
Brigadier  General,  and  while  the  master  niindof  General  Brock, 
assisted  by  the  masterly  activity  of  Tecumseh,  are  circumventing 
the  tactics  of  General  Hull,  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  Fort 
Dearborn,  at  Chicago,  the  outermost  ])Ost  of  the  Americans. 

Its  garrison  had  been  increased  bv  the  insignificant  reinforce- 
ment  of  twelve  militia,  which  made  in  all  sixty-six  soldiers.  Tlie 
original  officers  in  command  had  retired  the  year  before,  and  in 
their  place  stood  Captain  Heald,  who  had  the  chief  command, 
and  under  him  was  Lieut.  Helm,  the  same  who  had  recently 
married  the  step-daughter  of  John  Kinzie.  Ensign  George  Ronan 
and  Dr.  Van  Yoorhees,  the  >uriiV()n.  The  armament  of  the  fort 
consisted  of  three  cannon,  and  small  arms  for  the  soldiers.  The 
defenses  were  quite  suflicient  to  hold  the  Indians  at  bay,  whose 
mode  of  warfare  was  illy  adapted  to  a  seige,  but  in  the  general 
trepidation  which  prevailed  among  the  weak  garrison,  it  was  pro- 
posed to  make  the  most  of  every  available  ineans  in  their  power, 
in  ease  of  an  attack,  and  to  this  end  the  agency  house  outside  the 
palisade,  was  to  be  manned  with  a  few  sharp-sliootei-s,  to  minister 
to  the  defenses  of  the  fort. 

Mr.  Kinzie,  during  his  eight  years'  residence  in  the  place,  for- 
tunately had  won  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  Indians  by 
those  rare  gifts  which  transcend  the  angry  passions  of  war,  even 
in  the  savage  breast.     And  to  him  all  eyes  turned  for  coun^sel 


Chicago  in  IS  12.     '!^  2tU 

w}jen  the  war-wlioop  ranor  through  the  wilderness,  backed  by  the 
3)Ower  of  England.  Of  his  children,  the  oldest  was  John  H.,  theti 
ji  lad  of  eig'ht  years,  born  in  Canada,  opposite  Detroit,  but  a  few 
months  before  his  parents  emigrated  to  Chicago,  in  1804. 

He  was  the  first  prominent  resident  of  Chicago  from  infancy. 
Just  west  of  Mr.  Kinzie's  house  was  the  humble  habitation  of 
Oulimette,  a  French  laborer  in  his  employ,  who  like  many  of 
his  countrymen  before  him,  had  married  an  Indian  lassie,  and 
the  union  luid  been  blessed  with  the  usual  number  of  children. 
About  eighty  rods  to  the  west,  on  the  same  side' of  the  river,  was 
the  residence  of  Mi'.  Burns,  whose  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and 
<-])ildren.  Besides  these  were  a  few  families  of  half  breeds,  "  the 
location  of  whose  i-esidences,  or  perhaps  camps,  is  not  known," 
says  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie,  in  AVabnn.  In  the  fort  dwelt  the  fam- 
ilies of  Captain  Ileaid,  Lieut.  Helm  and  Sargoant  Holt,  whose 
wives  were  destined  to  become  heroines  of  history,  and  to  their 
•number  niiiy  be  added  Mrs.  Bisson,  sister  of  Oulimette's  wife, 
and  Mrs.  Corbin,  wife  of  a  soldier. 

Four  miles  from  Fort  Dearborn,  up  the  south  branch  of  the 
<?hicago  river,  lived  a  Mr.  AVhite.  as  a  tenant  on  a  farm  known 
by  the  name  of  Lee's  place.  In  his  employ  were  three  French- 
men, whose  business  was  to  sow,  plow  and  reap,  depending  on  a 
</hicago  market  for  a  sale  of  their  products.  This  place,  then  a 
loneseme  habitation,  remote  from  the  incipient  town,  is  now  the 
■center  of  the  din  of  Chicago  machinery  for  manufacturing  the 
Avooden  luxuries  of  the  age. 

At  this  time  Illinois  had  been  under  the  forms  of  a  territorial 
STovernment  for  three  years — Ninian  Edwards,  governor,  with 
Kaskaskia  the  capital.  Camp  Russell,  the  present  seat  of 
Edwardsville,  in  Madison  County,  was  the  northern  limits  of  the 
settled  portion  of  the  territory,  except  Peoria,  where  a  few  French 
families  lived,  over  whom  he  held  no  jurisdiction,  and  the  Fort 
at  Chicago,  which  was  under  L^nited  States  authority.  Around 
the  latter  the  Pottowattomies  roamed  lords  of  the  soil,  accord- 
inir  to  Jud^e  Caton's  historv  of  this  tribe. 

This  was  a  paper  read  before  the  Chicago  Historical  Society  in 
1870,  and  afterwards  published  by  Fergus,  in  1876,  the  data  for 
^hich  was  received  from  one  of  their  oldest  chiefs.  Their  hunt- 
ing grounds  were  limited  on  the  south  by  Peoria  Lake,  and  on 
the  west  by  Hock  River.  Since  the  days  of  the  great  Pontiac, 
their  alliance  with  his  tribe,  the  Ottawas,  had  been  cemented  into 
u  chain  of  friendship  strong  and  enduring  ;  both  had  ever  been 
active  allies  of  the  French  since  1673.  as  appears  from  contem- 
]>orary  history,  and  both  were  unrelenting  foes  to  the  English 
<.uring  the  long  and  bloody  French  and  Indian  war,  and  Pon- 
2i;ic's  war  wliicii  followed,  a  period  extending  from  1755  to  1764; 


262  The  Pottawatoraies. 

and  when  tlieir  beloved  chief  Pontiac  was  basely  murdered  by  ait 
Illinois,  both  of  these  tribes  took  sammaryj.rvengeanee  on  the 
whole  Illinois  tribe,  and  at  Starved  Rock  sl{ii,ugljLfereci  the  last  rem- 
nant of  them,  except  eleven  warriors,  who  ned  under  cover  of 
darkness  to  St.  Louia.  And  this  was  the  victory  whjcli  gave  the 
Pottawattomies  so  much  ascendancy  in  northeastern  Illinois.* 

But  since  the  period  of  French  occupation,  the  fortunes  of  the 
Indians  had  been  changed.  Their  loving  French  brothers  had 
beeij  driven  out  of  the  country,  and  the  British  who  drove 
them  out  were  now  thei-  own  allies,  on  whom  they  depend- 
ed to  beat  back  the  advancing  hosts  of  Anglo  Americans  who 
were  rapidly  encroaching  on  their  hunting-grounds.  The  Potto- 
wattomies  had  not  yet  felt  the  weight  of  their  power,  but  the 
Shawanees  had,  and  through  the  earnest  solicitation  of  Tecum- 
seh,  who  with  far-seeing  vision  comprehended  the  situation,  some 
of  the  Pottowattomies  had  yielded  to  his  seductive  eloquence, 
joined  his  standard,  and  fought  with  the  Prophet  the  year  before,, 
at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  Even  then  Tecumseh  had  laid  his 
plans  to  destroy  Fort  Deiirborn,f  but  the  defeat  of  his  braves  at 
that  disastrous  conflict,  arrested  the  execution  of  their  plans,  until 
the  war  of  1812  had  again  revived  them  on  a  far  grander  scale. 

In  his  erratic  wanderings  to  gain  allies  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing the  white  settlers  east  of  the  Ohio  river,  he  had  visited  the 
Winnebagoes,  of  Rock  river,  as  well  as  all  the  other  tribes  adja- 
cent, and  poured  out  his  tales  of  grief  to  them  against  his  white 
neighbors. 

While  it  is  not  to  be  presumed  that  he  had  won  them  all  over 
.t.9  participate  in  his  unrelenting  hostility  to  the  Americans,  it  is 
evident  that  some  of  the  indiscrete  and  inflammable  material 
among  them  had  been  brought  to  the  surface,  an  instance  of 
which  was  shown  one  day  when  some  Indians  of  the  Calumet 
had  come  to  Fort  Dearborn  on  business.  Seeing  Mrs.  Heald  and 
Mrs.  Helm  playing  at  a  game,  one  of  the  swarthy  visitors,  in  an 
unguarded  moment  said  to  the  interpreter,  "  The  white  chiefs- 
w:ves  are  amusing  themselves  very  much  ;  it  will  not  be  long^ 
before  thev  are  hoeing  in  our  corniields  ! "  A  few  weeks  latter 
this  proved  to  be  n>ore  than  an  idle  threat,  when,  owing  to 
Tecumseh's  influence,  or  some  other  reason  which  never  can  be 
brought  to  light,  the  Winnebagoes  made  a  raid  on  the  settlers 
immediately  adjacent  to  Fort  Dearborn,  which  contemplated  the 
killing  of  every  one  found  outside  of  its  palisades. 

Their  plan  was  to  begin  at  the  outermost  house  and  kill  all  as 
they  went  along.     This  was  Lee's  place,  and  here  the  work  began. 

*Catoii's  Address. 

fBrown's  History  of  Illinois,  page  305. 


."  •      Indian  Haul  on  Lee's  Place.  263 

oil  the  7tli  of  April.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  a  party 
of  ten  or  twelve  Indians  entered  the  house  and  seated  themselves 
with  the  usual  importunity  of  Indian  manners. 

Their  appearance,  however,  aroused  the  suspicions  of  the  in- 
mates, and  two  of  them,  under  pretense  of  feeding  the  cattle  from 
some. hay-stacks  across  the  river,  ferried  over  in  a  boat,  but  in- 
stead of  "coming  back  as  they  had  promised,  betook  themselves  to 
the  skirt  of  timber  which  fringed  the  rivar,  and  made  all  speed 
towards  the  fort.  Ere  they  had  proceeded  far,  the  report  of  two 
guns  confirmed  their  suspicions  against  tlie  strange  party  of 
Indians  who  had  come  so  suddenly  upon  them,  and  they  contin- 
ued their  flight  in  breathless  liaste,  until  tlie  river  opposite  the 
house  of  Burns  was  reached.  The  alarm  was  given  by  calling 
loudly  across  to  warn  theinmates  of  danger,  and  the  two  fugitives 
continued  their  flight  to  the  fort.  Consternation  now  filled  the 
household  of  Burns.  The  motlier  laid  on  her  couch,  v/itli  her 
babe  less  than  a  day  old,  and  Mrs.  John  Kinzie  sat  by  her  side, 
attending  to  her  wants,  with  the  tenderness  that  mothers  can 
best  feel  on  such  occasions.  But  now  the  appalling  news  just 
received  turned  her  thoughts  away  from  Mrs.  Burns  and  the 
little  nursling  beside  her,  to  her  own  chiMren  at  home,  and  she 
flew  thither  with  the  speed  that  terror  lent  lo  her  limbs.  Bush- 
ing in,  she  cried  out,  '■'-The  Indians!  The  Indians!  killing  and 
scalping."  Mr.  Kinzie  dropped  his  violin,  with  which  he  was 
.amusing  the  children,  and  the  amateur  quadrille  in  which  they 
were  engaged,  changed  into  preparations  for  flight;  all  rushed 
:into  two  boats,  which  la\'  moored  on  the  brink  of  the  river, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  were  safely  across,  and  inside  the  walls  of 
Fort  Dearborn. 

.  Burns'  family  were  not  yet  rescued,  and  who  would  undertake 
the  mission,  which  the  terrified  messengers  had  made  to  appear 
so  dangerous?  Ensign  Bonan  was  the  man,  and  leaping  into  a 
boat,  with  six  soldiers  equally  brave,  pulled  up  the  river  to 
Burns',  and  carried  the  mother,  and  her  babe  on  her  bed  on  board, 
and  these,  with  the  rest  of  the  family,  were  soon  safely  landed 
inside  the  fort. 

The  afternoon  previous,  a  party  of  seven  soldiers  had  obtained 
leave  to  row  up  the  south  branch  to  its  head  waters,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  fishing.  Night  !iad  now  come,  but  they  had  not  yet  re- 
turned. A  gun  was  fired  as  a  signal  of  danger,  hearing  which 
the  party  quit  their  sport,  and  pulled  silently  down  the  river. 
Arriving  at  Lee's  place,  they  landed  to  rescue  the  inmates.  Ap- 
proaching the  house  by  the  light  of  a  torch,  a  dead  body  was  dis- 
covered, beside  which  laid  a  faithful  dog.  With  increased  haste 
-they  retreated,  and  now  silently  continued  their  way  down  the 
■.stream,  and  reached  the  fort  at  11  o'clock  at  night.    Early  the 


264  Indecmon  of  General  Hull. 

next  morning  scouts  were  promptly  sent  to  tlie  scene.  The  dead 
tody  of  the  man  already  discovered,  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
Frenchmen  in  the  eraploy  of  Mr.  White;  his  dog  still  laid  by  his 
side,  in  mournful  silence  ;  and  but  a  few  paces  from  it  was  dis- 
covered the  dead  body  of  Mr.  White.  Both  the  murdered  men 
were  taken  to  the  fort,  and  buried  just  outside  the  palisade.  Be- 
sides the  families  from  outside  the  fort,  now  safely  quartered 
within  its  protection,  were  some  families  of  half-breeds, 
and  a  few  discharged  soldiers.  These  took  refuge  in  the 
Agency  house.  For  extra  protection  they  planked  up  the  two 
verandas  with  which  the  building  was  furnished  (more  for  comfort 
than  elegance),  and  pierced  the  outer  wall  thus  made  with  port- 
lioles. 

Inside  the  fort  was  an  ample  store  of  provisions,  among  which 
such  questionable  luxuries  as  spiritous  liquors  had  not  been  for- 
gotten, and  everything  was  iti  readiness  for  a  seige.  An  order 
was  issued  to  prevent  any  citizen  or  soldier  from  leaving  without 
a  guard,  and  a  line  of  pickets  was  placed  around  the  premises  at 
night.  In  a  few  nights  a  small  party  of  Indians  were  descried 
creeping  stealthily  through  the  pasture  grounds  adjoining  the  fort, 
likeagroupof  thugs.  They  were  immediately  fired  upon,  notonly 
by  the  patrolmen,  but  by  the  sentinel  from  the  block-house,  and 
one  of  their  number  returned  the  fire  by  hurling  back  his  hatchet 
at  .or.  patrolman's  head.  It  missed  it,  however,  and  spent  its 
forte  against  a  wheel  of  a  wagon.  The  next  morning  the  leveled 
gi-ass  stained  with  blood  where  his  victim  fell,  proved  the  steady 
aim  of  the  sentinel.  Soon  afterwards,  anotlier  visitation  was 
made  of  a  similar  character,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  stealing 
liorses  from  a  stable  outside  the  fort.  But  instead  of  finding 
horses,  some  sheep  had  taken  refuge  within  its  treacherous  walls 
and  became  victims  to  the  rage  of  the  disappointed  sneaks.  The 
innocent  aninuils  were  all  stabbed  as  if  they  had  been  so  many 
hyenas.  Scouts  were  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  miscreants  who  per- 
]»etrated  the  eruelty,  but  thev  could  not  be  overtaken.  In  a  few 
weeks  the  ett'ect  of  these  alarms  passed  away,  the  social  circle 
<)f  Ft,  Dearborn  resumed  its  composure.  The  Pottawattomies 
came  and  went  as  ever,  but  under  a  masked  disguise  of  afriend- 
.>-hi[)  ready  to  be  thrown  off  at  the  most  opportune  occasion. 

Let  us  now  turii  our  attention  again  to  Detroit,  the  central 
base  of  military  movements  on  the  upper  lakes.  Here  we  find 
General  Hull  encamped  on  British  soil,  across  the  river  o])posite 
Detroit,  evidently  under  the  painfully  contending  emotions  of 
prudence  and  activity,  with  the  former  in  the  ascendant.  But 
while  this  fatal  ])aralvsis  had  taken  posses^  .m  uf  him,  the  enemy 
were  acting  with  a  promptness  seldom  equal'ed  in  military  an- 
nals, and,  it  may  with  truth  be  said,  a  haste  which  would  have 


A  Treacherous  Armistice.  '265 

hem  fatal  to  them  had  not  their  antagonists  (the  Americans) 
been  actin<^  on  tlie  other  extreme.  In  default  of  positive  orders 
from  the  War  Department  to  take  the  offensive,  General  Hull 
had  at  first  hesitated  to  march  against  Maiden,  and  when  such 
orders  came,  so  much  time  was  consumed  in  preparation  for  the 
enterprise,  that  General  Proctor,  by  order  of  Sir  George  Prevost, 
(the  Governor-General  of  Canada)  had  reinforced  the  place  with 
an  English  regiment  before  General  Hull  was  ready  to  march 
against  it. 

This  British  reinforcement  of  Maiden  was  effected  on  the  29th 
of  July,  and  while  it  added  to  the  ])erple.\ities  of  General  Hull, 
he  still  looked  for  assistance  from  two  different  quarters  which 
might  extricate  him  from  his  perils,  and  place  him  in  an  invul- 
nerable position.  Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio,  had  been  ordered 
to  send  a  supply  of  provisions  to  him  under  a  military  escort, 
•commanded  by  Captain  Eruslu  which  was  now  on  ife  way,  but  the. 
most  important  assistance  which  he  expected  was  looked  for 
through  an  attack  against  the  enem}'- in  another  quarter,  more 
vital  to  them,  and  which  should  divide  their  force  and  prevent 
the  whole  military  w'eight  of  Canada  from  concentrating  on  De- 
troit. For  this  purpose.  General  Dearborn  had  been  ordered  to 
invade  Canada  from  Niagara,  but  while  on  his  way  thither  to 
take  command  of  his  army,  already  on  the  frontier,  at  Albany 
lie  was  met  by  a  tiag  of  truce  from  the  Governor-General,  borne 
by  Colojiel  Bayes,  Irom  Montreal.  This  messenger  was  the  offi- 
cial bearer  of  the  news  that  the  English  had  revoked  their  orders 
in  council,  wliich  had  for  years  been  so  obnoxious  to  American 
commerce,  and  which  had  been  among  the  principal  causes  of  the 
war.  Under  the  influence  of  such  a  harbinger  of  peace,  an  armis- 
tice was  proposed.*  Uniiapjdly  for  General  Hull  and  the  Ameri- 
can cause,  (ieneral  Dearborn,  instead  of  obeying  his  orders  by 
invading  (Canada,  signed  the  treacherous  truce  which  relieved 
the  Englisii  forces  of  Canada  from  any  apprehensions  of  daiiger 
to  their  Niagara  frontier  while  they  were  concentrating  their 
force  against  Detroit.  While  these  contingencies  were  passing, 
€o  fortunately  for  the  J^>r^tish,  General  Hull's  indiecision  of  pur- 
pose, which,  it  must  be  confessed,  grew  out  of  the  web  of  diffi- 
culties which  encompassed  him,  had  forfeited  all  confidence  in 
him  from  his  armv.  On  the  8th  of  Aujrust  he  called  a  council 
of  war,  in  which  it  was  decided  to  advance  against  Maiden,  but 
news  of  the  fatal  armistice  followed  this  decision,  sent  by  a  mes- 
senger from  General  Porter,  who  held  command  on  the  Niagara 
frontier,  accompanied  with  the  unpropitious  assurance  that  the 

*  It  will  not  be  for^tten  that  this  -evocation  took  place  *ive  days  after  the 
-American  declaration  of  war,  as  stated  in  the  forejfoing  pagea. 


266  HulVs  Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  Ojpeii  Communication. 
*    . ' 

proposed  diversion    of  the  English   forces  liad  resulted    in   a 
failure. 

This  dispiriting  news  prevented  him  from  advancing  against 
the  objective  point,  and  he  retreated  to  Detroit.  Two  and  a-half 
miles  from  the  present  site  of  Monroe,  Michigan,  was  a  thriving 
French  village,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Raisin,  thirty-six  miles 
south  of  Detroit.  The  expected  convoy  of  provisions  had  readied 
this  place  in  safety,  but  between  this  point  and  Detroit,  Tecum- 
seh  interposed  his  army  of  braves,  and  the  commander  of  the 
convoy,  not  deeming  it  prudent  to  advance  with  such  a  numer- 
ous foe  in  his  path,  sent  a  messenger  to  General  Hull  for  a  force 
to  open  the  way. 

On  the  4th  of  Angust,  Major  Van  Home,  of  Colonel  Find- 
ley's  regimentof  Ohio  volunteers,  was  sent  on  the  mission  with  a 
command  or  200  men.  At  Brownstown,  nearly  opposite 
Maiden,  he  fell  into  an  ambuscade  and  was  driven  back,  witli  se- 
rious losses. 

On  the  9th  inst..  Colonel  Miller  was  sent  on  the  same  danger- 
ous service,  with  the  fourth  Ohio  regiment  and  a  body  of  militia, 
in  all  numbering  600  men. 

Tne  fear  of  an  ambuscade  along  the  low  and  forest-clad  grounds 
through  which  their  path  lay,  caused  them  to  proceed  with  cau- 
tion, and  (>aptain  Snelling  was  ordered  to  lead  tlie  advance.  No 
enemy  was  seen  till  they  hvd  reached  the  Indian  village  of  Mon- 
guagon,  about  half  the  distance  to  the  river  Raisin,  where  from 
behind  a  breastwork  of  logs  a  squad  of  British  and  Indians  ob- 
structed their  path.  A  sliarp  and  bloody  battle  immediately 
followed,  in  which  the  new  Ainerican  troops  fought  like  veterans,, 
and  drove  the  British  from  the  field  ;  but  the  Indians,  led  by 
Tecumseh,  though  exposed  to  the  terrible  fire  of  the  Americans, 
in  which  their  loss  had  been  severe,  still  hung  around  the  skirts 
of  the  victorious  Americans  and  made  their  position  dangerous. 
In  this  emergency.  Colonel  Miller  despatched  a  messenger  back 
to  DetH'oit  to  obtain  provisions  for  the  sustenance  of  his  men,  till 
they  coiild  fight  their  way  through  the  treacherous  forest  path  to- 
meet  the  convoy.  Tiic  required  provisions  were  at  first  ordered 
to  be  sent  under  command  of  Colonel  McxVrthur,  but  a  storm, 
delayed  the  departure  of  the  train  till  General  Hull  thought  best 
to  recall  Co'onel  Miller,  rather  than  reinforce  him,  and  he  was- 
ordered  back  to  Detroit. 

Arrangements  were  now  made  to  open  communication  with  the 
expected  convoy  by  a  route  further  to  the  West,  which  was  less 
exposed  to  the  numerous  enemy  who  hovered  around  the  banks 
of  the  Detroit  river  alcng  the  road  which  Colonel  Miller  had 
passed,  and  which  had  frequently  exposed  his  men  to  the  fire  ot*" 
the  English  Vessels  which  patroled  its  waters. 


General  Brock  Demands  the  Surrender  of  Detroit.    267" 

Colonels  Cass  and  McArthur  were  detailed  for  this  service,  on 
the  14tli,  witli  400  picked  men.  General  Brock  reached  Maiden 
the  same  da^',  and  immediately  taking  the  offensive,  advanced  to 
Sandwich,  opposite  Detroit,  and  addressed  to  General  Hull  the 
following  note  : 

"Sir: — The  power  at  my  disposal  authorizes  me  to  require  of  you  the  imme- 
diate surrender  of  Detroit.  It  is  far  from  my  inclination  to  join  in  a  war  of 
extermination,  but  you  must  be  aware  that  the  numerous  body  of  Indians  \^ho- 
have  attached  themselves  to  my  troops  will  be  beyond  my  control  the  moment 
the  crntest  commences.  You  will  find  me  disposed  to  enter  into  such  conditions 
as  will  satisfy  the  most  scrupulous  sense  of  honor.  Lieutenant  Colonel  McDon- 
nell and  Major  Gregg,  are  fully  authorized  to  conclude  any  arrangements  that 
may  prevent  the  unnecessary  effusion  of  blood.  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your 
obedient  servant, 

Isaac  Brock,  Major  General,  etc. 

His  Excellency,  Brigadier  General  Hull,  etc. 

The  reply  was  as  follows : 

Head  Quarters,  Detroit.  Aug.  15th,  1812. 

Sir: — I  have  no  other  reply  to  make,  than  to  inform  you  that  I  am  prepared 
to  meet  any  force  which  may  be  at  your  disposal,  and  any  consequences 
which  may  result  from  any  exertion  of  it  you  may  think  proper  to  make.  I  am, 
etc.,  William  Hull,  Brigadier  General. 

His  Excellency,  Major  General  Brock,  etc. 

Says  General  Hull,  in  his  official  account  of  the  attack  of  De- 
troit and  its  surrender  :  "  On  the  I5th,  as  spon  as  General  Brock 
received  niy  letter,  his  batteries  opened  on  the  town  and  fort,  and 
continued  until  evening.  In  the  evening,  all  the  British  ships  of 
war  came  nearly  as  far  up  the  river  as  Sandwich,  three  miles  be- 
low Detroit.  At  dajdight  on  the  16th,  the  cannonade  recom- 
menced, and  in  a  short  time  I  received  information  that  the 
British  army  and  Indians  were  landing  below  the  Spring  "Wells, 
under  the  cover  of  their  ships  of  war.  At  this  time,  tke  whole 
effective  force  at  my  disposal  at  Detroit  did  not  exceed  800  men.  , 
Being  new  troops  and  unaccustomed  to  camp  life  ;  having  per- 
formed a  laborious  march  ;  having  been  engaged  in  a  number  of 
battles  and  skirmishes,  in  which  many  had  fallen  and  more  had 
received  wounds  ;  in  addition  to  which  a  large  number  being  sick 
and  unprovided  with  medicine  and  the  comforts  necessary  for 
their  situation  ;  are  the  general  causes  by  which  the  strengtJi  of 
the  army  was  reduced.  *  *  It  now  became  necessary  to  fight 
the  enemy  m  the  field,  collect  the  whole  force  in  the  fort,  or 
propose  terms  of  capitulation.  I  could  not  have  carried  into  the 
field  more  than  600  men,  and  left  any  "adequate  force  in  the  fort. 
There  were  landed  at  that  time  of  the  enemy  a  regular  force  of 
mucli  more  than  that  number,  and  twice  the  number  of  Indians. 
Considering  this  great  inequality  of  force,  I  did  not  think  it 
expedient  to  adopt  the  first  n^.easure.  The  second  must  have 
been  attended  with  a  great  sacrifice  of  blood  and  no  possible  ad- 
vantage, Decause  the  contest  could  not  liave  been  susiamed  raorft 


268  Detroit  Surrendered.  .,-        -.-/v-^ 

than  a,  day  for  want  of  power,  and  but  a  few  days  for  want  of 
provisions. 

In  addition  to  this,  Cols.  McArthnr  and  Cass  would  have  been 
in  a  most  hazardous  situation.  I  feared  nothing  but  the  last  al- 
ternative,    I  have  dared  to  adopt  it 1  well  know  the 

hjifh  reponsibility  of  the  measure,  and  I  take  the  whole  of  it  my 
self.  It  was  dictated  by  a  s^^nse  of  duty  and  a  full  conviction 
of  its  expediency." 

Tl»e  surrender  of  the  garrison  of  Detroit,  together  with  the 
town  and  the  entire  territory  of  Michigan,  took  place  on  the  16th. 
It  forms  a  humiliating  page  in  American  history,  for  which  the 
tardiness  in  the  government  in  sustaining  General  Hull  was  more 
responsible  than  General  Hull  himself;  albeit,  it  is  but  a  just 
tribute  to  English  heroism  to  admit  that  it  had  a  potent  influence 
in  the  work.  That  General  Hull  could  have  taken  Maiden  at 
first,  and  thus  saved  Detroit,  is  probable;  but  in  default  of  this, 
that  he  could  have  held  Detroit  Was  impossible.  No  wonder  the 
fall  of  the  place  stung  the  American  heart,  when  thousands  of 
our  old  Revolutionary  soldiers  were  yet  living,  who  beheld  the 
triumph  of  English  arms  with  indescribable  bitterness.  Getieral 
Hull  was  tried  by  court-martial  and  sentenced  to  be  hung.  Hap- 
pily for  humanity's  sake,  the  President  pardoned  him.  The  sen- 
tence appeased  the  pride  of  the  nation,  as  well  as  to  help  conceal 
the  mistakes  of  the  government,  till  history  in  its  own  destined 
time  should  vindicate  truth,  even  at  the  expense  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

Note. — The  following  is  an  item  from  a  journal  kept  by  the  father  of  Hon. 
L.  W.  Cl^pool,  of  Morris,  111.,  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  Ohio  ranks  at  the  sur- 
render. It  is  inserted  as  a  simple  statement  of  the  facts  which  verify  tne 
English  account  of  the  surrender,  as  well  as  Hull's  statement.  It  was  furnished 
the  author  by  Hon.  Wm.  Bross,  Chicago: 

"Aug.  15 — British  began  firing  opposite  Detroit  at  6  o'clock.  Continued  till 
after  night.  Ended  by  throwing  a  few  shells.  They  received  heavy  firing  from 
our  side.  The  day  following,  at  6  o'clock,  renewed  the  firing.  The  compli- 
ment was  returned.  Firing  continued  three  hours.  We  ceased  firing  first. 
Sent  over  a  flag  of  truce.  British  otticcrs  came  over.  Talked  of  capitulation, 
well  underetanding  that  1,00U  British  had  crossed  at  Spring  Wells,  and  that  a 
vast  number  of  Indians  were  back  of  the  For^  (perhaps  1,500).  Under  consider- 
ation of  these  facts,  surrendered  the  whole  to  the  British.  They  took  possession 
at  11  o'clock.  We  gave  up  our  arms  at  12  o'clock.  In  the  evening,  went  on 
board  the  schooner  Nancy.  Continued  hero  till  the  18th.  Sailed  to  Maiden,  lay 
there  till  the  'JOth:  6  in  the  morning  till  12  o'clock.  Sailed  twenty-three  miles. 
.Anchored  all  night.  2lRt — Wind  unfavorable.  22nd,  Simday — Cast  anchor  at 
Puttaiit  Bay  Island.  Weighed  anchor  at  4  o'clock  Sunday.  2:id  of  August — 
Landed  at  the  mouth  of  Black  River.  24th — Marched  twenty-seven  miles  dowa 
Lake  Erie  to  the  Town  of  Cleveland,  Cuyahoga  county,  0." 


CHAPTEK    XVII.  .  " 

Fort  Dearborn  in  Danger  —  Its  Evacuation  ordered  ht/ 
General  Hull —  Winnemac,  the  Fritudly  Messenger  — 
Vacillating  Policy  of  Captain  Seald,  the  Commander  — 
Inflexibility  of  J^nsign  Konan  —  John  Kinzie^  his  Wise 
Counsel — Council  with  the  Pottawattomies — Bad  Faith 
of  Captain  Heald  in  the  Destruction  of  Arms,  etc.  — Hon- 
orable Confession  of  Black  PaHridqe'— Arrival  of  a  Heroic 
Friend — The  Fort  Evacuated — Indian  Treachery — Mrs, 
Eelm/s  Graphic  Accownt  of  the  Massacre  v^hich  followed. 

During  the  waning  fortunes  of  General  Hull  at  Detroit,  ere  he 
had  surrendered  the  place,  evidently  a]ipreheiisive  of  his  fate^ 
he  determined  to  send  a  messenger  to  Fort  Dearborn  to  ap- 
prise its  inmates  of  tlie  situation,  and  give  them  timely  warning 
to  save  themselves  by  retreating  to  Fort  AYayne,  if  the  garrison 
were  not  in  a  situation  to  hold  out  till  succor  could  come  to  their 
relief.  AVinnemac,  the  Pottowattamie  chief,  of  whom  mention 
has  been  made  in  a  previous  cliapter,  was  in  his  canip,  and  to- 
him  the  mission  was  entrusted.  He  started  from  Detroit  on  ths 
28th  of  July,  with  an  order  from  General  Hull  to  Captain  Heald, 
who  held  command  of  Fort  Dearborn,  and  arrived  safely  at  Chi- 
cago on  the  7th  of  August,  according  to  the  account  given  in 
Wabun;  but  Lanman  states  that  he  arrived  on  the  9th,  which  ap- 
pears more  consistent,  as  to  the  time  it  would  take  to  travel  the 
long  wilderness  path  connecting  the  two  places.  He  brought 
exciting  news.  War  had  been  declared  by  the  United  States 
against  England;  Michillmacinac  had  fallen  without  resistance, 
and  Detroit  was  closely  pressed  by  the  British  and  their  swarthy 
allies.  Under  these  adverse  circumstances  the  evacuation  of 
Fort  Dearborn  v^^as  ordered,  providing  they  had  not  means  to  de- 
fend it,  as  the  only  means  of  safety  left  open  to  the  garrison. 
Captain  Heald  was  further  instructed  to  distribute  all  the  goods 
in  the  fort  and  agency  house  among  the  Indians  after  leaving  the 
post 


'270   Captain  Heald  Ordei'^  the  Evacuation  of  Fort  Dearborn. 

Had  all  these  conditions  come  upon  them  in  their  natural  rou- 
tine, better  preparation  could  have  been  made  to  meet  them,  hut 
the  news  coming  as  it  did,  fell  like  an  avalanch  upon  the  unsus- 
pecting tenants  of  tlie  fort.  To  add  to  their  perplexities  the 
relations  between  the  commanding  officer  and  his  subordinates, 
particularly  Ensign  Ronan,  was  not  harmonious.  This  young 
officer  was  bold,  perhaps  an  eratic  and  certainly  an  out-spoken 
free  thinker,  regardless  of  any  restraining  limit  dictated  by 
policy  or  conservatism  to  the  expression  of  his  sentiments.  For 
this  and  without  doubt  for  other  causes,  Captain  Heald  took  no 
■council  with  his  subordinate  officers  as  to  what  was  to  be  done, 
but  resolved  in  his  own  mind  to  evacuate  the  fort,  although  this 
•decision  was  against  the  advice  of  both  Winnemac,  who  had 
Amply  proved  tlie  sincerity  of  his  friendship,  and  Mr.  Kinzie, 
whose  long  and  successful  career  among  the  Indians  entitled  his 
•opinions  to  respect.  And  in  vain  did  both  of  them  exert  them- 
selves to  dissuade  him  from  the  hasty  resolution.  First,  Winne- 
mac had  at  a  private  interview  with  Mr.  Kinzie,  strongly  ad- 
vised that  the  garrison  should  shut  themselves  up  in  the  fort  and 
remain  till  reinforced,  but  if  evacuation  was  determined  on,  let 
it  be  done  immediately,  before  the  Indians,  through  whose  coun- 
try they  must  pass,  should  become  acquainted  with  the  news  he 
had  brought  from  Detroit.  To  this  advice  Captain  Heald  replied, 
that,  inasmuch  as  he  had  determined  to  leave  the  fort,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  wait  till  the  Indians  of  the  neighborhood  could  be 
•collected  to  receive  an  equal  distribution  of  the  property  ordered  to 
'be  given  to  them.  Winnemac  then  suggested  an  immediate  evacu- 
tion,  with  everything  left  standing,  and  while  the  Indians  were 
•dividing  the  spoils  the  garrison  might  escape. 

This  plan  was  also  recommended  by  Mr.  Kinzie,  but  was  re- 
jected, and  the  next  morning  the  oi*der  for  evacuating  the  post 
according  to  the  original  plan  of  Captain  Heald,  was  read  at  the 
roll  call.  The  impolicy  of  this  plan  being  apparent  to  the  sub- 
ordinate officers,  in  the  course  of  the  day  tliey  sought  an  inter- 
view with  Captain  Heald  to  remonstrate  against  it.  They  rep- 
resented to  him  the  frail  tenure  by  which  the  treacherous  chain 
of  friendship  now  bound  the  Indians  to  the  American  interest. 
That  good-will  towards  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie  was  its  only 
hold,  and  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  few  chiefs  who  showed 
this  feeling  towards  this  one  household  would  be  able  to  restrain 
the  turbulent  passions  of  the  whole  tribe  when  the  war  whooj) 
was  once  raisea.  That  their  retreat  must  be  slow,  incumbered 
us  it  would  be  with  women,  children  and  invalids.  That  succor 
might  arrive  before  an  attack  could  be  made  from  the  British 
who  had  just  taken  Michilimackinac,  but  if  not  it  were  far  bet- 
ter to  fall  into  their  hands  than  expose  tlienieelves  to  the  fury  of 


Council  with  tite  Fottcncattomies.  271 

tlie  savages.  To  these  suggestions  Captain  Ileald  replied  that  a 
special  order  had  been  issued  from  the  War  Department  that  no 
post  should  be  surrendered  without  a  battle,  and  his  force  was 
inadequate  for  this  and  that  he  should  be  censured  for  remaining 
when  a  prospect  for  a  safe  retreat  appeared  probable,  to  insure 
which  he  proposed,  after  distributing  the  goods  to  the  Indians,  to 
wromise  them  further  reward  for  escorting  his  command  safely  to 
Fort  Wayne.  From  this  time  the  under  officers,  seeing  the  im- 
possibility of  changing  his  purposes,  remained  silent  on  the  sul)- 
ject,  but  Mr.  Kinzie  was  still  persistent,  and  while  conversing 
with  him  one  day  on  the  parade-ground,  on  the  subject,  Captain 
Ileald,  in  reply  to  his  ai-guments,  said,  "  I  could  not  remain  if  I 
thought  best,  for  I  have  but  a  small  store  of  provisions."  "  Why, 
Captain,"  said  an  impulsive  soldier,  "you  have  cattle  enough  to 
last  six  months."  To  this  the  unoffended  Captain  replied,  "  I 
have  no  salt  to  preserve  the  meat."  "Then  jerk  it,  as  the  Indi- 
ans do  their  venison,"  continued  the  persistant  soldier.*  As  the 
weary  days  advanced,  the  Indians  assumed  an  air  of  insolence 
quite  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  friendship.  Impertinent 
squaws  cast  malignant  glances  at  the  fort,  as  they  thronged 
around  its  gates  as  if  a  jubilee  was  about  to  reward  their  watch- 
ing, and  uncouth  warriors  sometimes  pressed  through  the  gates, 
heedless  of  the  sentinel's  protest,  and  once  a  gun  was  discharged 
in  the  ladies'  parlor  by  one  of  these  unwelcome  visitors. 

On  the  12tn  a  council  was  held  with  the  Pottawattomies  who 
had  by  this  time  assembled  in  considerable  numbers  around  the 
fort.  The  conferen<}e  took  place  on  the  parade-ground  just  out- 
side the  palisades.  Captain  Heald  laid  aside  his  prejudices  and 
invited  all  the  officers  of  the  fort  to  take  part  in  its  deliberations, 
but  they  had  lost  all  faith  in  the  pretensions  of  the  Indians  and 
declined.  Moreover,  they  had  been  informed  that  it  was  to  be 
made  the  occasion  of  a  massacre  of  the  officers,  the  truth  of 
which  rumor  was  strengthened  by  perhaps  well-grounded  suspi- 
cions. Under  these  apprehensions  they  betook  themselves  to 
the  block-house  where  the  cannon  were  shotted  ready  for  any 
hostile  demonstration  which  might  show  itself.  Captain  Healed, 
however,  with  undiminished  faith  in  the  Indians;  accompanied 
by  Mr.  Kinzie,  convened  the  coiuicil.  At  its  sitting  the  Indians 
were  informed  of  his  plans  to  withdraw  from  the  fort,  and  were 
promised  the  gift  of  all  the  goods,  not  only  in  the  fort  itself  but 
of  those  in  the  agency  house,  including  the  ammunition  and 
provisions.  The  Pottawattomies  on  their  part  promised  an  es- 
cort to  conduct  them  safely  to  Ft.  Wayne,  for  which  they  were 

•  As  beef  or  venison  was  preserved  by  drying  and  smoking,  in  the  early 
•day,  wliich  process  was  called  jerking. — [AuTHOB. 


272  Destruction  of  Arms^  Etc. 

to  receive  a  liberal  reward  on  the  spot  and  an  additional  one  ou 
tlieir  arrival  at  the  place.  Thus  closed  tlie  council  witli  apparent 
good-will  and  contideuce  on  the  part  of  Captain  Heald,  net 
shared  by  his  juniov  officers  or  soldiers.  As  already  stated^ 
Winneniac  had  brought  to  the  garrison  the  news  of  the  fall  of 
Michilimanackinac,  but  from  prudential  motives  the  Indians 
were  not  informed  of  it.  This  attempt  at  concealment,  however, 
was  unavailing,  for  Tecumseh  had  sent  a  messenger  to  them  to 
secure  their  co-operation  in  the  general  warfare  which  he  was 
waging  against  the  Americans  as  a  British  ally,  by  telling  them 
the  news  so  auspicious  to  their  cause.  No  sooner  had  the  conn- 
cil  closed  and  the  chiefs  withdrawn  than  Mr.  Kinzie,  alarmed  at 
its  impolitic  terms,  protested  against  furnishing  the  Indians 
arms,  which  would  ]n-obabi7  be  used  against  tliemselves,  and 
Captain  Ileald,  liimself,  foi  the  first  time  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  surrounding  danger,  determined  to  destroy  all  the  arms  ami 
ammunition  not  wanted  for  his  own  use,  instead  of  giving  it  to- 
the  Indians,  as  stipulated  in  the  council. 

The  next  day  the  goods  were  distributed,  all  but  the  ammuni- 
t'on,  arms,  and  the  liquors,  of  which  there  was  a  plentiful  store. 
The  Indians  were  far  from  being  satisfied.  The  things.they 
most  coveted  were  still  withheld  and  at  nijiht  thev  huuij  about 
the  premises,  crawling  prostrate  through  the  tall  grass,  where- 
ever  it  afibrded  concealment  within  hearing  of  what  was  going, 
on  at  the  fort.  When  night  came,  their  serpentine  toil  was  re- 
warded with  a  full  discovery  of  what  they  had  suspected.  With 
indignation  they  beheld  the  destruction  of  the  muskets,  the  frag- 
ments of  whicii,  together  with  powder,  shot,  flints  and  gun 
screws  were  thrown  into  a  well  at  the  extremity  of  the  sally 
port.  Next  came  the  casks  of  liquor.  These  were  rolled  to  the 
bank  of  the  river,  the  heads  knoclced  in  and  the  contents  given 
to  intoxicate  the  fishes.  The  Indians,  however,  got  a  taste  of 
the  precious  nectar -which,  diluted  as  it  was,  they  sipped  from 
the  surtace  of  the  water,  under  cover  of  night,  while  drinking^ 
which  they  declared  that  the  whole  river  tasted  like  strong  grog. 
However  agreeable  such  a  spoliation  might  be  to  modern  apostles 
of  temperance,  it  was  oflensive  to  the  Indians  to  the  last  degree. 
Aside  from  'such  a  waste  of  property,  they  looked  upon  it  as  a 
piece  of  treachery  ou  the  part  of  Captain  Heald,  which  had  de- 
prived them  of  the  most  essential  part  of  the  promised  gifts. 
This  last  act  was  the  most  fatal  error  yet  committed,  as  it  com- 
promised all  the  good-fellowship  that  existed  between  the  In- 
dians and  the  garrison,  on  which  alone  Captain  Heald  had  based 
a  frail  hope  of  security. 

Up  to  this  time  the  leading  chiefs  of  the  Pottawattomles  (it  i* 
frir  lo  infer)  felt  their  ability  to  restrain  tl\e  war  spirit  among 


Cajjiaiii  Wells. 


27:? 


the  yonng  braves  who  longed  for  a  chance  to  acliieve  notoriety  by 
ornamenting  their  belts  with  the  scalp  of  an  enemy,  and  were 
as  unscrupulous  as  to  the  means  employed  to  obtain  it  as  some 
of  our  modern 'politicians  are  as  to  the  issues  that  party  strife 
thrusts  into  the  arena  of  what  sliould  be  the  policy  of  the  na- 
tion. 

Black  Partridge  was  conspicuous  among  the  friendly  and  con- 
siderate chiefs  but  after  the  destruction  of  the  arms,"etc.,  feeling 
that  he  could  no  longer  restrain  the  war  spirit  of  his  people,  he 
entered  the  quarters  of  Captain  Il.\ald  Avith  deep  dejection. 
"Father,"  said  the  high-minded  chief,  "  I  come  to  deliver  up  to 

"  you  the  medal  I  wear.  It  was  given  me  by  the  Americans,  and 
I  have  long  worn  it  in  token  of  our  mutual  Iriendship,  but  our 
young  men  are  resolved  to  imbrue  their  hands  in  the  blood  of 
the  whites.  I  cannot  restrain  them,  and  I  will  not  wear  a  token 
of  peace  while  I  am  compelled  to  act  as  an  enemy."  Whatever 
effect  this  startling  disclosure  produced  on  the  minds  of  the  gar- 

•rison,  it  was  now  too  late  to  make  any  change  in  their  plans,  for 
nothing  was  left  on  which'to  subsist  or  with  which  to  defend 
themselves,  as  only  twenty-five  rounds  of  ammunition  to  the 
man  and  one  extra  box  of  cartridges  had  been  reserved  from  tlie 
general  distribution.  This  was  the  situation  on  the  night  of  the 
13th  when  the  devoted  garrison  returned  to  rest,  perhaps  for  the 
last  time.  While  this  suspense  was  C(mtinuing  at  the  fort,  suc- 
cor was  on  the  way  to  them.  The  wife  of  Captain  I  Teal  d  was 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Samuel  AVells,  of  Kentucky,  whose 
brother  (afterwards  Captain  William  Wayne  Wells)  wlien  thir- 
teen years  old  had  been  taken  captive  by  the  Indians,  in  one  of 
the  border  skirmishes,  which  was  a  frequent  occurrence  in  those 
early  times.*  He  was  adopted  into  the  family  of  Little  Turtle 
and  bred  in  the  lofty  virtues  of  which  that  distinguished  chief 
was  so  able  an  exponent. 

At  the  defeat  of  St.  Clair,  Mr.  Wells  had  been  in  the  front 
and  maintained  the  position  till  a  wall  of  dead  bodies  of  the 
American  artillery  men  shielded  him  from  the  tempest  of  bullets 
which  assailed  hi«  men.  Notwithstanding  he  had.  won  laurels 
w^ith  the  people  of  his  adoption  whom  he  had  thus  far  success- 
I'ully  defended,  in  his  reflective  moments  he  clearly  foresaw  their 
declining  fortunes  and  resolved  to  abandon  them  to  a  fate  from 
which  it  was  impossible  to  exti'icate  them.  As  might  be  sup- 
posed this  resolution  filled  his  heart  with  contending  emotions, 
painful  beyond  the  power  of  but  few  to  conceive.  On  the  one 
Iiand  were  the  associations  which  had  gathered  around  his  ma- 
turing years,  perhaps  all  the  more  tender  because  hardships  and 

*  See  Western  Annals,  p.  615. 


'^4  His  Arrival  at  Fort  Dearborn. 

toil  had  been  ever  jwesent  with  them.  On  the  other,  was  his  am- 
bition to  ca:«t  his  lot  among  his  own  people,  who  alone  could  ele- 
vate him  to  a  position  that  his  talents  deserved.  Bnt  as  treach- 
ery with  him  w;is  impossible,  he  plaiidy  told  his  adopted  father, 
Little  Turtle,  his  intentions,  and  with  much  pathos  bade  him 
good-bve,  as  he  left  him  and  allied  liimself  to  the  army  of  Gen- 
eral Wayne,  in  1704.  With  him  he  fought  during  the  campaign 
and  after  the  peace  wliich  followed  it,  he  again  joined  Little 
Turtle,  who  now  fully  shared  his  sentiments,  and  both  went  to 
Philadelphia  together,  in  1798,  to  take  measures  to  bring  civil  - 
jation  to  their  race.  Here  tlie  celebrated  traveler,  Mr.  Yohie . , 
met  Mr.  Wells,  and  has  left  an  interesting  record  of  the  inter- 
Wew.*  He  was  also  received  with  marked  respect  by  the  Quii- 
kers  at  the  place,  who  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  extend  the 
open  hand  to  help  the  Indian  race.  lie  then  returned  to  Fort 
Wayne,  where  he  remained  till  the  war  of  1812.f  The  war 
whoop  was  now  fgain  ringing  through  the  forest,  and  lie  was 
once  more  thrust  into  its  theatre.  Rumors  of  the  disaffection  of 
the  Pottawattomies,  who  hung  around  Foi-t  Dearborn,  reached 
him,  and  he  promptly  flew  to  the  defense  of  his  friends  at  the 
place,  one  of  whom  (Mrs.  Heald)  was  his  blood  relation. 

He  arrived  there  on  the  14th  and  found  things  in  a  desperate 
condition. 

It  was  too  late  to  defend  the  fort,  and  the  only  resource  left 
was  to  retreat  in  the  face  of  a  savage  foe.  dangerous  from  their 
numbers  at  best,  but  now  irritated  b}-  the  destruction  of  the 
.trms  and  liquors  which  had  been  promised  to  them.  Hope  re- 
fived  in  the  hearts  of  the  devoted  garrison  when  he,  at  the  head 
ti  15  Miamis,  entered  the  walls  of  the  fort,  and  consoled  by  this 
tmall  reinforcement,  all  but  the  sentinels  retired  to  rest. 

"The  morning  of  the  loth  arrived.  All  things  were  in  readi- 
jess,  and  nine  o'clock  was  the  hour  named  for  starting. 

Mr.  Kinzie  had  volunteered  to  accompany  the  troops  in  their 
march,  and  had  entrusted  his  family  to  the  care  of  some  friendly 
Indians,  who  had  promised  to  convey  them  in  a  boat  around  the 
head  of  Lake  Michigan  to  a  point :j:  on  the  St.  Joseph's  river; 
there  to  be  joined  by  the  troops,  should  the  prosecution  of  their 
march  be  permitted  them. 

Early  in  the  morning  Mr.  Kinzie  received  a  message  from 
To-pee-nee-bee,  a  chief  of  the  St.  Joseph's  band,  informing  him 
that  mischief  was  intended  by  the  Pottowattamies  who  had  en- 

♦  Voliiey's  View,  p.  357. 

t  Whiting's  Historical  Discourses,  delivered  at  Detroit,  1832. 
X  The  spot  now  called  Bertrand,  then  known  as  Pare  nux  Vaches,  from  its 
having  been  a  pasture  ground  to  an  old  French  fort  in  the  neighborhood. 


youi-s 


The  Attach  Begins.  275 

jiaged  to  escort  the  detachment;  and  urging  him  to  reh"iiquish 
Jiis  design  of  accompanying  the  troops  by  land,  ])r()mirting  Iiim 
that  the  boat  containing  himself  and  family  sliou Id  be  permitted 
to  pass  in  safety  to  St.  Josej)h's. 

Mr.  Kinzie  declined  acceding  to  this  proposal,  as  he  believed 
tliat  his  presence  might  operate  as  a  restraint  upon  the  Ivryof 
tlie  savages,  so  warmly  were  the  greater  part  of  them  attached 
to  himself  and  his  family. 

The  party  in  the  boat  consisted  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  and  her  four 

linger  children,  their  nurse  Grutte."  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Kinzie's, 
two  servants  and  the  boatmen,  besides  the  two  Indians  who 
acted  as  their  protectors.  The  boat  started,  but  had  scarcely 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  river,  which,  it  will  be  recollected  was 
iiere  half  a  mile  below  the  fort,  when  another  messenger  from 
To-pee-nee-hee  arrived  to  detain  them  where  they  were. 

In  breathless  expectation  sat  the  wife  and  mother.  She  was  a 
•woman  of  uncoiuinon  energy  and  strength  of  character,  yet  her 
heart  died  within  her  as  she  folded  her  arms  around  her  helpless 
infants,  and  gazed  upon  the  march  of  her  husband  and  eldest 
child  to  certain  destruction. 

As  the  troops  left  the  fort,  the  band  struck  up  the  Dead  March. 
On  they  came  in  military  array,  but  with  solemn  mien.  Cap- 
tain Wells  took  the  lead  at  the  head  of  liis  little  band  of  Miamis. 
He  had  blackened  his  face  before  leaving  the  garrison,  in  token 
of  his  impending  fate.  They  took  their  route  along  the  lake 
shore..  When  they  reached  the  point  where  commenced  a  range 
of  sand  hills  intervening  between  the  prairie  and  the  beach,  the 
escort  of  Potto wattamies,  in  number  about  iive  hundred,  kept 
the  level  of  the  prairie,  instead  of  continuing  along  the  beach 
with  the  Americans  and  Miamis. 

They  liad  marched  perhaps  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  Captain 
Wells,  who  had  kept  somewhat  in  advance  with  his  Miamis, 
came  riding  furiously  back.  "  They  are  about  to  attack  us," 
shouted  he;  "form  instantly,  and  charge  upon  them." 

Scarcely  were  the  words  uttered,  when  a  volley  was;  showered 
from  among  the  sand-hills.  The  troops  were, hastily  brought 
into  line,  and  charged  up  the  hank.  One  man,  a  veteran  of 
seventy  winters,  tell  as  they  ascended.  Tlie  remainder  of  the 
Rcene  is  best  described  in  the  words  of  an  eye-witness  and  par- 
ticipator in  the  tragedy,  Mrs.  Helm,  the  wife  of  Captain  (tlien 
Lieutenant)  Helm,  and  step-daughter  of  Mr.  Kinzie: 

"  After  we  liad  left  the  bank  the  firing  became  general.  The 
Miamis  fled  at  the  outset.  Their  chief  rode  up  to  the  Pottowat- 
tjuuies  and  said: 

•  Afterwards  Mrs.  Jean  Baptiste  Beaubien. 


276  Rescue  of  Mrs.  Helm. 

"  *  Yon  have  deceived  tiie  Ainei-icans  and  us.  Yow  have  dune 
a  bad  action,  and  (brandishing;  liis  tomab.awk)  I  a  ill  lie  the  first 
to  head  a  party  of  Ame  'icans  to  return  and  ])unlsh  your  treach- 
ery,' So  saying  he  <>;alloj)ed  alter  his  companions,  who  werc- 
now  scouring  across  the  prairies. 

'"  The  troops  behaved  most  gallantly.  Tliey  were  but  a  hand- 
ful, but  they  seemed  resolved  to  sell  their  lives  as  dearly  as  possi- 
ble. Our  iiorses  pranced  and  bounded,  and  could  hardly  be  re- 
strained as  the  balls  whistled  among  them.  I  drew  off  a  little., 
and  gazed  upon  my  husband  and  father,  who  were  yet  unharmed. 
I  felt  that  my  hour  was  come,  and  endeavored  to  forget  those  I 
h)ved,  and  prepare  myself  for  my  approaching  fate. 

"  While  I  was  thus  engaged,  the  surgeon,  l)r.  Yan  Voorhees, 
came  up.  He  was  badly  wounded.  Ilis  horse  had  been  shot 
under  him,  and  he  had  received  a  ball  in  his  leg.  Every  muscle 
of  his  face  was  quivering  with  the  agony  of  terror.  He  said  lo 
me — 'Do  you  tliink  they  will  take  our  lives?  I  am  badly 
wounded,  but  I  think  not  mortally.  Perhaps  we  might  purchase 
our  lives  by  promising  them  a  large  reward.  Do  you  think  there 
is  any  chance 'f 

" '  Dr.  Yan  Voorhees,'  said  I,  '  do  not  let  us  waste  the  few  mo- 
ments that  yet  remain  to  us  in  such  vain  liopes.  Our  fate  is 
inevitable.  In  a  few  moments  we  must  appear  before  the  bar  of 
God.     Let  us  make  what  preparation  is  yet  in  our  power.' 

"'Oh!  I  caTinot  die,'  exclaimed  he.  '1  am  not  lit  to  die — if  I 
had  but  a  short  time  to  prepare — death  is  awful!' 

"  I  pointed  to  Ensign  Eonan,  who  though  mortally  woundeil 
and  nearly  down,  was  still  lighting  with  desperation  on  one 
knee. 

" '  Look  at  that  man,'  said  I,  '  at  least  he  dies  like  a  soldier.' 

"'Yes,'  replied  the  unfortunate  man,  with  a  convulsive  gasp, 
'but  he  has  no  terrors  of  the  future — he  is  an  unbeliever!' 

"  At  this  moment  a  youn;^  Indian  raised  his  tomahawk  at  me. 
By  springing  aside,  I  avoided  the  blow  which  was  intended  for 
my  skull,  but  which  alighted  on  my  shoulder.  I  seized  him 
around  the  neck,  and  while  exertin«r  mv  utmost  efforts  to  ijet 
possession  of  his  scalping-knife.  which  hung  in  a  scabbard  over 
his  breast,  I  was  dragged  from  his  grasp  by  another  and  an 
older  Indian. 

"  The  latter  bore  me  struggling  and  resisting  towards  tlie  lake. 
Notwithstanding  the  rapidity  with  which  I  was  hurried  along,  I 
recognized  as  I  passed  tliem  the  lifeless  remains  of  the  unfortu- 
nate surgeon.  Some  murderous  tomahawk  had  stretched  him 
upon  the  very  spot  where  I  had  last  seen  him. 

"I  was  immediately  plunged  into  the  water  and  held  there 
with  a  forcible  hand,  notwithstanding  my  resistance.     I   soon 


Bhck  Partridge  the  Rescuer.  277 

perceived,  however,  that  the  object  of  my  captor  was  not  to 
<lrown  me,  for  he  held  me  firmly  in  siich  a  position  as  to  place 
eiiy  head  above  water.  This  reassured  me,  and  regarding  him 
attentively,  I  soon  recu<rnized,  in  spite  of  the  paint  with  which 
3ie  was  dis<^uised.  The  Bhifk  Partridije. 

'*  When  the  firinj^  liad  nearly  snbsided,  my  ])reserver  bore  nie 
Irom  the  water  and  conducted  me  up  the  sand-banks.  It  was  a 
l)urniiic;  August  morning,  and  walking  through  the  sand  in  my 
•4lrenched  condition  was  inexpressibly  painful  and  fatiguing.  1 
stooped  and  took  otf  my  shoes  to  free  them  from  the  sand  with 
vhich  they  were  nearly  filled,  when  a  squaw  seized  and  carried 
them  off,  and  I  was  obliged  to  proceed  without  them. 

'*  When  we  had  gained  the  prairie,  I  was  met  by  my  father, 
who  told  me  that  my  husband  was  safe  and  but  slightly  wounded. 
They  led  me  gently  back  towards  the  Chicago  Uiver,  along  the 
eoutliern  bank  of  which  was  the  Pottowattamie  eiicampment. 
At  one  time  I  was  placed  u})on  a  horse  without  a  saddle,  but 
tinding  the  motion  insupportable,  I  sprang  off.  Supported 
partly  by  my  kind  conductor.  Black  PartruUje^  and  partly  by 
ranother  Indian,  Pee-so-tuni,  who  held  dangling  in  his  hand  a 
scalp,  which  by  the  black  ribbon  around  the  queue  I  recognized 
:as  that  of  Capt.  Wells,  I  dragged  my  fainting  steps  to  one  of 
ithe  wigwams. 

"  The  wife  of  Wau-bee-nee-mah,  a  chief  from  the  Illinois 
Itiver,  was  standing  near,  and  seeing  my  oxhausted  condition  she 
seized  a  kettle,  di])ped  up  some  water  irom  a  stream  tluit  flowed 
mear,*  threw  into  it  some  maple  sugar,  and  stirring  it  up  with 
iher  hand  gave  it  me  to  drink.  This  act  of  kindness,  in  the 
■midst  of  so  many  horrors,  touched  me  most  sensibly,  but  my 
:attention  was  soon  diverted  to  other  objects. 

''The  fort  had  become  a  scene  of  plunder  to  such  as  remained 
.after  the  troops  marched  out.  The  cattle  had  been  shot  down  as 
they  ran  at  large,  and  lay  dead  or  dying  around.  This  work  of 
butchery  had  commenced  just  as  we  were  leaving  the  fort.  I 
"well  remembered  a  remark  of  Ensign  Konan,  as  the  firing  went 
•on.  '  Such.'  turning  to  me,  'is  to  be  our  fate — to  be  shot  down 
like  brutes  !' 

"  AV^ell,  sir,'  said  the  Commanding  Officer,  who  overheard  him, 
'are  /ou  afraid  V 

"  ']So,'  reidied  the  high  spirited  young  man,  '  I  can  march  up 
to  the  enemy  where  3'ou  dare  not  show  your  face;'  and  his  sub- 
sequent gallant  behavior  showed  this  to  be  no  idle  boast. 

'•  As  the  noise  of  the  tiring  grew  gradually  less  and  the  strag- 
irlers  irom  the  victorious  party  came  dropping  in,  I  received  cou- 

*Just  by  the  pri-seiit  i;tate  slieet  Muiket. 


278  Heroism  of  Captain  Wells. 

firmation  of  what  ;ny  father  had  hurriedly  coinmiinicated  in  our 
rencontre  on  the  lake  shore;  namely,  that  the  whites  had  sur- 
rendered after  the  loss  of  about  two-thirds  of  their  number. 
They  had  stipulated,  through  the  interpreter,  Peresh  Leclorc,  for 
the  preservation  of  their  lives,  and  those  of  the  remainini^ 
women  and  children,  and  for  their  delivery  at  some  of  the 
British  posts,  unless  ransomed  by  traders  in  the  Indian  country. 
It  appears  that  the  wounded  prisoners  were  not  considered  as  in- 
cluded in  the  stipulation,  and  a  horrible  scene  ensued  upon  th,!r 
being  brought  into  camp. 

"An  old  squaw,  infuriated  by  the  loss  of  friends,  or  excited  by 
the  sanguinary  scenes  around  her,  seemed  possessed  by  a  demo- 
niac ferocity.  She  seized  a  stable-fork  and  assaulted  one  misera- 
ble victim,  who  lay  groaning  and  writhing  in  the  agony  of  his- 
wounds,  aggravated  by  the  scorching  beams  of  the  sun.  With  a 
delicjvcy  of  feeling  scarcely  to  have  been  expected  under  such 
circumstances,  Wau-bee-nee-mah  stretched  a  mat  across  two 
poles,  between  me  and  this  dreadful  scene.  I  was  thus  spared  in 
some  degree  a  view  of  its  horrors,  although  I  could  not  entirely 
close  my  ears  to  the  cries  of  the  sufferer.  The  following  night 
five  more  of  the  wounded  prisoners  were  tomahawked. 

"  The  Americans  after  their  first  attack  by  the  Indians,  charged 
upon  those  who  had  concealed  themselves  in  a  sort  of  ravine  in- 
tervening between  the  sand  banks  and  the  prairie.  The  latter 
gathered  themselves  into  a  body,  and  after  some  hard  lighting, 
in  which  the  number  of  whites  had  become  reduced  to  twenty- 
eight,  this  little  band  succeeded  in  breaking  through  the  enemy, 
and  gained  a  rising  ground,  not  far  from  tne  Oak  Woods.  The 
contest  now  seemed  hopeless,  and  Lt.  Helm  sent  Peresh  Leclerc,. 
a  half-breed  boy  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  detachment  and  fought  manfully  on  their  side,  to 
propose  terms  of  capitulation.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  lives 
of  all  the  survivors  should  be  spared,  and  a  ransom  permitted  as- 
soon  as  practicable. 

"  But,  in  the  mean  time,  a  horrible  scene  had  been  enacted. 
One  young  savage,  climbing  into  the  baggage-w^agon  containinj. 
the  children  of  the  white  families,  twelve  in  number,  toma- 
nawked  the  children  of  the  entire  group.     This  was  during  the 


r 

!7) 


engagement  near  the  Sand-hills.  When  Captain  Wells,  who  was- 
fighting  near,  beheld  it,  he  exclaimed: 

"'Is  that  their  game,  butchering  the  women  and  children ?^ 
Then  I  will  kill  too!' 

"So  saying,  he  turned  his  horse's  liead,  and  started  for  the  In- 
dian camp,  near  the  fort,  where  had  been  left  tlieir  squaws  and 
children, 

"Several  Indians  pursued  him  as  he  galloped  along.     He  laid 


Bravery  of  Mrs.  Corhin  and  Mrs.  Holt.  279 

himself  flat  on  the  neck  of  his  horse,  loading  and  firing  in  that 
position,  as  he  would  occasionally  turn  on  his  pursuers.  At 
length  their  balls  took  eiiect,  killing  his  liorse,  and  severely 
wounding  himself.  At  this  moment  he  was  met  by  Winnemeg* 
and  Wau-ia7i-see,  Afho  endeavored  to  save  him  from  the  savages 
who  had  now  overtaken  him.  As  they  supported  hitn  along, 
after  having  disengaged  him  from  his  horse,  he  received  his 
death-blow  from  another  Indian,  Pee-so-tum.,  who  stabbed  him 
in  the  baek.f 

"The  heroic  resolution  of  one  of  the  soldier's  wives  deserves 
to  be  recorded.  She  was  a  Mrs.  Corbin,  and  had,  from  the  first, 
expressed  the  determination  never  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
savages,  believing  that  their  prisoners  were  always  subjected  to 
tortures  worse  than  death. 

""When,  therefore,  a  party  came  upon  her,  to  make  her  a  pris- 
oner, she  fought  with  desperation,  refusing  to  surrender,  although 
assured,  by  signs,  of  safety  and  kind  treatment,  and  literally 
suffered  herself  to  be  cut  to  pieces,  rather  than  become  their 
captive. 

"  There  was  a  Sergeant  Holt,  who,  earl}'^  in  the  engagement,  re- 
ceived a  ball  in  the  neck.  Finding  himself  badly  wounded,  he 
gave  his  sword  to  his  wi^'e,  who  was  on  horseback  near  him, 
telling  her  to  defend  lierself — he  then  made  for  the  lake,  to  keep 
out  of  the  way  of  the  balls.  Mrs.  Holt  rode  a  very  fine  horse, 
which  the  Indians  were  desirous  of  possessing,  and  they  there- 
fore attacked  her,  in  hopes  of  dismounting  her. 

"  They  fought  only  with  the  butt-ends  of  their  guns,  for  their 
object  was  not  tt)  kill  her.  She  hacked  and  hewed  at  their  pieces 
as  they  were  thrust  against  her,  now  on  this  side,  now  on  tiiat. 
Finally,  she  broke  loose  from  them,  and  dashed  out  into  the 
prairie.  The  Indians  pursued  her,  shouting  and  laughing,  and 
now  and  then  calling  out : 

" '  The  brave  woman  !  do  not  hurt  her  !* 

"At  length  they  overtook  her  again,  and  while  she  was  en- 
i;aged  with  two  or  three  in  front,  one  succeeded  in  seizing  her 
jy  the  neck  behind,  and  dragging  her,  although  a  large  and 
powerful  woman,  from  her  horse.  Notwithstanding  that  their 
guns  had  been  so  hacked  and  injured,  and  even  themselves  cut 
severely,  they  seemed  to  regard  her  only  with  admiration.     They 

*  Winnemac  (sometimes  spelled  with  a  '  pr '  as  a  final  letter.) — [Author. 

t  Captain  Wells'  heart  was  afterwards  taken  out.  cut  in  pieces  and  distrib- 
uted among  the  tribes.  After  heing  sadped.  his  remains  were  left  unburied,  iis 
were  also  those  of  the  children  massacred,  and  the  soldiers  and  women  slain  in 
battle.  Billy  Caldwell,  an  Indian  chief,  tlie  next  day  finding  the  head  of  Cap- 
tiiin' Wells  in  one  place  and  his  hod,'  in  another,  caused  a  hole  to  be  dug  in  the 
sand  ami  his  remains  to  U.'  interred.— tf*o/r»r,v  lUhiois. 


I 


280  Mrs.  Heald  Again  Rescued. 

took  her  to  a  trader  on  the  Ilh'nois  River,  by  whom  she  was  re- 
stored to  her  friends,  after  liaving  received  every  kindness  during 
her  captivity.* 

"Those  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  who  had  reniained  in  tlie 
boat,  near  the  month  of  the  river,  were  carefully  guarded  by 
Kee-po-tah  and  aaother  Indian.  They  had  seen  the  smoke — 
then  the  blaze — and  immediately  after  the  report  of  the  first  tre- 
mendous discharge  sounded  in  their  ears.  Then  all  was  confu- 
sion. Tltey  realized  nothing  until  they  saw  an  Indian  come 
towards  them  from  the  battle-ground,  leading  a  horse  on  which 
sat  a  lady,  apparently  wounded. 

" '  That  is  Mrs.  Heald,'  cried  Mrs.  Kinzie.  '  That  Indian  will 
kill  her.  Run,  Chandonnai,'  to  one  of  Mr.  Kinzie's  clerks,  '  take 
the  mule  that  is  tied  there,  and  offer  it  to  him  to  release  her.' 

''Her  captor,  by  this  time,  was  in  the  act  of  disengaging  her 
bonnet  from  her  head,  in  order  to  scalp  her.  Chandonnai  ran 
up,  offered  the  mule  as  a  ransom,  with  the  promise  of  ten  bottles 
of  whisky,  as  soon  as  they  should,  reach  his  village.  The  latter 
was  a  strong  temptation. 

"  '  But,'  said  the  Indian,  she  is  badly  wounded — she  will  die. 
Will  you  give  me  the  whiskey,  at  all  events  ? ' 

"Chandonnai  promised  that  he  would,  and  the  bargain  was 
concluded.  The  savage  placed  the  lady's  bonnet  on  his  own  head, 
and  after  an  ineffectual  effort  on  the  part  of  some  squaws  to  rob 
her  of  her  shoes  and  stockings,  she  was  brought  on  board  the 
boat,  where  she  lay  moaning  with  pain  from  the  many  bullet 
wounds  she  liad  received  in  both  arms. 

"The  horse  she  had  ridden  was  a  fine  spirited  animal,  and, 
being  desirous  of  possessing  themselves  of  it  uninjured,  the  In- 
dians had  aimed  their  shots  so  as  to  disable  the  rider,  without 
injuring  her  steed. 

"She  had  not  lain  long  in  the  boat,  when  a  young  Indian  of 
savage  aspect  was  seen  approaching.  A  buffalo  robe  was  hastily 
drawn  over  Mrs.  Heald,  and  she  was  admonished  to  suppress 
all  sound  of  complaint,  as  she  valued  her  life. 

"The  heroic  woman  remained  perfectly  silent,  while  the  savage 
drew  near.  He  had  a  pistol  in  his  hand,  which  he  rested  on  the 
side  of  the  boat,  while,  with  a  fearful  scowl,  he  looked  pryingly 
around.  Black  Jim,  one  of  the  servants  who  stood  in  the  bow  of 
the  boat,  seized  an  axe  that  lav  near,  and  signed  to  him  that 
if  he  shot,  he  would  cleave  his  skull;  telling  him  that  the 
boat  contained  only  the  family  o^ Shaw-nee-<iw-kee.\  Upon  this 
the  Indian  retired.     It  afterward  appeared  that  the  object  of  hia 

•Mrs.  Holt  is  believed  to  Ik>  ntill  living  in  the  Stato  of  Ohio, 
t  The  Indian  name  for  Mr.  Kinzie  — [AirraoR. 


New  Dangers  Aoerted.  231 

search  was   Mr.  Burnett,  a  trader  from  St.  Joseph's,  with  whom 
lie  had  some  account  to  settle. 

"  When  the  boat  was  at  lentftli  permitted  to  return  to  the 
mansion  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  Mrs.  Heald  was  removed  to  the 
house,  it  became  necessary  to  dress  lier  wounds. 

"  Mr.  K.  applied  to  an  old  chief  who  stood  by,  and  who,  like 
most  of  his  tribe,  possessed  some  skill  in  surgery,  to  extract  a 
ball  from  the  arm  ofthe  sufferer. 

'* '  No,  father,'  replied  he.  '  I  cannot  do  it — it  makes  me  sick 
here' — (placing  his  hand  on  his  heart). 

"  Mr.  Kinzie  then  performed  the  operation  himself  with  his 
penknife. 

'•  At  their  own  mansion  the  family  of  Mr.  ivinzle  were  closely 
guarded  by  their  Indian  friends,  whose  intention  it  was,  to  carry 
them  to  lietroit  for  security.  Tiie  rest  of  the  prisoners  remained 
at  the  wigvvams  of  their  captors. 

"  The  following  morning  thewoi'k  of  plunder  being  completed, 
the  Indians  set  fire  to  the  fort.  A  very  equitable  distribution  of 
the  finery  appeared  to  have  been  made,  and  shawls,  ribbons,  and 
feathers  fluttered  about  in  all  directions.  The  ludicrous  appear- 
ance of  one  young  fellow  who  had  arrayed  himself  in  a  muslin 
g#wn,  and  the  bonnet  of  one  of  the  ladies,  would,  under  other 
circumstances,  have  afforded  matter  of  amusement. 

'•  Black  Partridge,  Wau-ban-see  and  Kee-po-tah,  with  two 
other  Indians,  having  established  themselves  in  the  porch  of  the 
building  as  sentinels,  to  protect  the  family  from  any  evil  that  the 
young  men  might  be  excited  to  commit,  all  remained  tranquil 
for  a  short  space  after  the  conflagration. 

"  Very  soon,  however,  a  party  of  Indians  from  the  Wabash 
made  their  appearance.  These  were,  decidedly,  the  most  hostile 
and  implacable  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  Pottowattamies. 

"  Being  more  remote,  they  had  shared  less  than  some  of  their 
brethren  in  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Kinzie  and  his  family,  and  con- 
sequentlj'  their  sentiments  of  regard  for  them  were  less  power- 
ful. 

''  Runners  had  been  sent  to  the  villages  to  apprize  them  of 
the  intended  evacuation  of  the  post,  as  well  as  of.  the  plan  ofthe 
Indians  assembled  to  attack  the  troops. 

"Thirsting  to  participate  in  such  a  scene  they  hurried  on,  and 
great  was  their  mortification  on  arriving  at  the  river  Aux  Plains, 
to  meet  with  a  party  of  their  friends  having  with  them  tiieir 
chief  Nee-scot-nee-meg,  badly  wounded,  and  to  learn  that  the 
battle  was  over,  the  spoils  divided,  and  the  scalps  all  taken. 

"On  arriving  at  Chicago  they  blackened  their  faces,  and  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Kinzie. 

"  From  his  station  on  the  piazza  Black  Partridge  had  watched 


282  Contimicd  Fidtlity  of  Black  Partridge. 

their  approach,  and  his  fears  were  particularly  awalveiicd  fcir  the 
safety  of  Mrs.  Helm  (Mr.  Kinzie's  step-daughter),  who  had  re- 
cently come  to  the  post,  and  was  personally  unknown  to  the 
more  remote  Indians.  By  his  advice  she  was  made  to  assume 
the  ordinary  dress  of  a  French  woman  of  the  country;  namely,. 
a  short  gown  and  petticoat,  with  a  blue  cotton  handkerchief 
wrapped  around  her  head  In  this  disguise  she  was  conducted 
by  Black  Partridge  himself  to  the  house  of  Ouilmette,  a  French- 
man with  a  half-breed  wife,  who  formed  a  part  of  the  establish- 
ment of  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  whose  dwelling  was  close  at  hand. 

"  It  so  happened  that  the  Indians  came  first  to  this  house,  in 
their  search  for  prisoners.  As  they  approached,  the  inmates^ 
feai'ful  that  the  fair  complexion  and  general  appearance  of  Mrs. 
Helm  might  betray  her  ^r  an  American,  raised  a  large  feather- 
bed and  placed  her  under  the  edge  of  it,  upon  the  bedstead,  with 
her  face  to  the  wall.  Mrs.  Bisson,  the  sister  of  Ouilmette's  wife^ 
then  seated  herself  with  her  sewing  upon  the  front  of  the  bed. 

"  It  was  a  hot  day  in  August,  and  the  feverish  excitement  o^ 
fear  and  agitation,  together  with  her  position,  which  was  nearly 
suffocating,  becfnie  so  intolerable,  that  Mrs.  Helm  at  length  en- 
treated to  be  released  and  given  up  to  the  Indians. 

" '  I  can  but  die,'  said  she;  •  let  them  put  an  end  to  my  misery 
at  once.' 

"  Mrs.  Bisson  replied,  '  Your  death  would  be  the  destruction 
of  us  all,  for  Black  I'artridge  has  resolved  that  if  one  drop  of  the 
blood  of  your  family  is  spilled,  he  will  take  the  lives  of  all  con- 
cerned in  it,  even  his  nearest  friends,  and  if  orce  the  work  of 
murder  commences,  there  will  be  no  end  of  it,  so  long  as  there 
remains  one  white  person,  or  half  breed,  in  the  country.' 

"  This  expostulation  nerved  Mrs.  Helm  with  fresh  resolution. 

"The  Indians  entered,  and  she  could  occasionally  see  them 
from  her  hiding-place,  gliding  about,  and  stealthily  inspecting 
every  part  of  the  room,  though  without  making  any  ostensible 
gearoh,  until  apparently  satisfied  that  there  was  no  one  concealed,, 
they  left  the  house. 

"  All  this  time  Mrs.  Bisson  had  kept  her  seat  upon  the  side  of 
the  bed,  calmly  sorting  and  arranging  the  ])atchwork  of  the 
quilt  on  which  she  was  engaged,  and  preserving  an  apju-arance 
of  the  utmost  tranquilit}',  although  she  knew  not  but  that  the 
next  moment  she  might  receive  a  tomahawk  in  her  brain.  Her 
self-command  unquestionably  saved  the  lives  of  all  present. 

"From  Ouilmette's  house  the  party  of  Indians  proceeded  to 
the  dwelling  of  Mr,  Kinzie.  They  entered  the  parlor  in  which 
the  family  were  assembled  with  tlieir  faithful  protectors,  and 
seated  themselves  upon  the  floor  in  silence. 

"Black  Partridge  perceived  from  their  moody  and  revengeful 


.   The  Sau-(ja-nush  to   The  Rescue.  385 

looks  wliat  was  passing  in  their  minds,  but  he  dared  not  renion- 
Btraie  with  theui.     He  only  observed  in  a  low  tone  to  Wau-ban- 

see — 

'"We  have  endeavored  to  save  our  friends,  but  it  is  in  vain — 
nothing  will  save  them  now.' 

"  At  this  moment  a  friendly  whoop  was  heard  from  a  party  of 
new  comers  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river.  Black  Partridge: 
sprang  to  meet  their  leader,  as  the  canoes  in  which  they  had  has- 
tily embarked  touched  the  bank  near  the  house. 

" '  Who  are  you?'  demanded  h«. 

"'A  man — who  are  youf 

" '  A  man  like  yourself,  but  tell  me  who  you  are ' — meanings 
tell  me  your  disposition,  and  which  side  you  are  for. 

" '  I  am  the  Sau-ga-nash  P 

" '  Then  make  all  speed  to  the  house — your  friend  is  in  dan- 
ger, and  you  alone  can  save  him.' 

"  Billy  Caldwell,*  for  it  was  he,  entered  the  parlor  with  ai. 
calm  step,  and  without  a  trace  of  agitation  in  his  manner.  He- 
deliberateh  took  off  his  accoutrements  and  placed  them  with  his- 
rifle  behind  the  door;  then  saluted  the  hostile  savages. 

"  '  How  now,  my  friends  !  A  good  day  to  you.  I  was  told 
there  were  enemies  here,  but  I  am  glad  to  find  only  friends. 
Why  have  you  blackened  your  faces  ?  Is  it  that  you  are  mourn- 
ing for  the  friends  you  have  lost  in  battle  V  (purposely  misunder- 
standing this  token  of  evil  designs).  '  Or  is  it  that  you  are  fast- 
ing ?  It'  so,  ask  our  friend  here,  and  he  will  give  you  to  eat- 
He  is  the  Indian's  friend,  and  never  yet  refused  them  what  they 
had  need  of.' 

"  Thus  taken  by  surprise,  the  savages  were  ashamed  to  ac- 
knowledge their  bloody  purpose.  They,  therefore  said  modestly 
that  they  came  to  beg  of  their  friends  some  white  cotton  in  which 
to  wrap  their  dead,  before  interring  them.  This  was  given  to- 
them  with  some  other  presentSj  a.id  they  took  their  departure- 
peaceably  from  the  premises. 

"  Along  with  Mr.  Kinzie's  party  was  a  non-commissioned  offi- 

•  Billy  Caldwell  was  a  half  breed,  and  a  chief  of  the  nation.  In  his  reply^ 
"  /  am  a  Sau-ga-nash,''  or  Englishman,  he  designed  to  convey,  "  I  am  a  white- 
man.^'  Had  he  said,  "  I  am  a  Pottowattamie,''  it  would  have  been  interpretrd 
to  mean,  "I  belong  to  my  nation,  and  am  prepared  to  go  all  lengths  with 
them." — Waubun. 

Billy  Caldwell,  who  died  but  a  short  time  since,  was  familiary  known  to» 
many  of  our  citizens  in  Chicago.  His  presence  of  mind  unquestionably  saved 
his  friends  from  niassacrg.  He  was  a  naif  or  quarter  breed.  His  father  wa» 
an  officer  in  the  British  armv:  his  mother  a  Wyandot  woman;  he  was  wel'h 
cducateil  in  Montreal  before  he  came  hither.  Previous  to  the  War  of  lttl2  he- 
was  received  and  iidoptt'd  as  a  chief  among  them  -and  called  the  Sau-ga-na  h_ 
— Brown's  III.,  imhlifihed  in  1844. 


284  The  Kimie  Family  Sent  to  Detroit. 

•cer  who  had  made  .  liis  escape  in  a  sinj^ular  manner.  As  the 
troops  were  about  leaving  the  fort  it  was  found  that  the  baggage- 
horses  of  the  surgeon  had  strayed  off.  The  quarter-master-ser- 
geant, Griffith,  was  sent  to  collect  them  and  bring  them  on,  it 
Being  absolutely  necessary  to  recover  them,  since  their  packs 
contained  part  of  the  surgeon's  apparatus,  and  the  medicines  for 
the  march. 

"  This  man  had  been  for  a  long  time  on  the  sick  report,  and 
for  this  reason  was  given  the  charge  of  the  baggage,  instead  of 
being  placed  with  the  troops.  His  efforts  to  recover  the  horses 
being  unsuccessful,  he  was  hastening  to  rejoin  his  party;  alarmed 
at  some  appearances  of  disorder  and  hostile  indications  among 
the  Indians,  when  he  was  met  and  made  prisoner  by  To-pee- 
nee-bee. 

"  Having  taken  from  him  his  arms  and  acoutrements,  the 
<;hief  put  him  into  a  canoe  and  paddled  him  across  the  river, 
bidding  him  make  for  tlie  woods  and  secrete  himself.  This  he 
■did,  and  the  following  day,  in  the  afternoon,  seeing  from  his 
lurking-place  that  all  appeared  quiet,  he  ventured  to  steal  cau: 
tiously  into  the  garden  of  Onilmette,  where  he  concealed  himself 
for  a  time  behind  some  currant-bushes. 

"  At  length  he  determined  to  enter  the  house,  and  accordingly 
<;limbed  up  through  a  small  back  window,  into  the  room  where 
the  family  were.  This  was  just  as  the  Wabash  Indians  left  the 
house  of  Ouilmette  for  that  of  Mr.  Kinzie.  The  danger  of  the 
«ergeant  was  now  imminent.  The  family  stripped  him  of  his 
uniform  and  arrayed  him  in  a  suit  of  deer-skin,  with  belt,  mocca- 
sins, and  pipe,  like  a  French  engage.  His  dark  complexion  and 
large  black  whiskers  favored  the  disguise.  The  family  were  all 
■ordered  to  address  him  in  French,  and  although  utterly  ignorant 
of  the  language  he  continued  to  pass  for  a  Ween-tee-gosh,*  and 
AS  such  to  accompany  Mr.  Kinzie  and  his  family,  undetected 
by  his  enemies  until  they  reached  a  place  of  safety. 

"On  the  third  day  after  the  battle,  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie, 
Avith  the  clerks  of  the  establishment,  were  put  into  a  boat,  uiipder 
the  care  of  Francois,  a  half-breed  interpreter,  and  conveyed  to 
St.  Joseph's,  where  they  remained  until  the  following  November, 
under  the  protection  of  To-pee-nee-heeh  band.  They  were  then 
<5onducted  to  Detroit,  under  tlie  escort  of  Chandonnai  and  their 
trusty  Indian  friend,  JE'iS-jrw-toA,  and  delivered  up  as  prisoners 
of  war,  to  Col.  McKee,  the  British  Indian  Agent. 

"Mr.  Kinzie  was  not  allowed  to  leave  St.  Joseph's  with  his 
family,  his  Indian  friends  insisting  on  his  remaining  and  en- 
deavoring to   secure  some  remnant  of  his   scattered  ])roperty. 

*  Frenrlniinn. 


Hospitality  of  Alexander  Robinson.  285 

During  his  excursions  witli  tliem  for  that  purpose,  he  wore  the 
costume  and  paint  of  the  tribe,  in  order  to  escape  capture  and 
perhaps  death  at  the  hands  of  those  who  were  still  thirsting  for 
blood.  In  time,  however,  his  anxiety  for  liis  family  induced  liira 
to  follow  them  to  Detroit,  where,  in  the  month  of  January,  he 
was  received  and  paroled  by  Geii.  Proctor. 

"  Capt.  and  Mrs.  Heald  had  been  sent  across  the  lake  to  St. 
Joseph's  the  day  after  the  battle.  The  former  had  received  two- 
wounds,  the  latter  seven  in  the  engagement. 

"Lieut.  Helm,  who  was  likewise  wounded,  was  carried  by 
some  friendly  Indians  to  their  village  on  the  Au  Sable,  and 
thence  to  Peoria,  where  he  was  lilierated  by  the  intervention  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Forsyth,  the  half-brother  of  Mr.  Kinzie.  Mrs. 
Helm  had  accompanied  her  parents  to  St.  Joseph,  where  they  re- 
sided in  the  family  of  Alexander  Pobinson,*  receiving  from  them 
all  possible  kindness  and  hospitality  for  several  months. 

"After  their  arrival  in  Detroit,  Mrs.  Helm  was  joined  by  her 
husband,  when  they  were  both  arrested  by  order  of  the  British 
commander,  and  sent  on  horseback,  in  the  dead  of  winter, 
through  Canada  to  Fort  Georije  on  the  Niasfara  frontier.  When 
tliey  arrived  at  that  post,  there  seemed  no  official  appointed  to- 
receive  them,  and  notwithstanding  their  long  and  fatiguing  jour- 
ney, in  weather  the  most  cold  and  inclement,  ]\[rs.  H.,  a  delicate 
woman  of  seventeen  years,  was  permitted  to  sit  waiting  in  her  sad- 
dle without  the  gate  for  more  than  hour,  before  the  refreshment  of 
lire  or  food,  oi-  even  the  shelter  of  a  roof  was  offered  them. 
When  Col.  Sheaife,  who  had  been  absent  at  the  time,  was  in- 
formed of  this  brutal  inhospitality,  he  expressed  the  greatest  in- 
dignation. He  waited  on  Mrs.  Helm  immediately,  apologized 
in  the  most  courteous  manner,  and  treated  both  her  and  Lieut. 
H.  with  the  most  considerate  kindness,  imtil,  by  an  exchange  of 
prisoners,  they  were  lil)erated,  and  found  means  to  reach  their 
friends  in  Stenben  county,  X.  Y. 

"  Capt.  Heald  had  been  taken  prisoner  by  an  Indian  from  the 
Kankakee,  who  had  a  strong  personal  regard  for  him,  and  who, 
when  he  saw  the  wounded  and  eni'eebled  state  of  Mrs.  H.,  re- 
leased her  husband  that  he  might  accompany  his  wife  to  St. 
Joseph's.  To  the  latter  place  they  were  accordingly  carried,  as- 
has  been  related,  by  Chandonnai  and  his  party.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  Indian  who  had  so  nobly  released  his  prisoner,  returned 
to  his  village  on  the  Kankakee,  where  he  had  the  mortification 
of  finding  that  his  condi;ct  had  excited  great  dissatisfaction 
among  his  band.     So  great  was  the  displeasure  manifested,  that 

*  The  Pottowattamie  chief,  so  Well  known  to  many  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago, 
now  residing  at  the  Aux  Plaines. 


^S6  Ransoin  of  The  Last  Sui'vivors. 

he  resolved  *o  make  a  journey  to  St.  Josepli's  and  reclaim  his 
prisoner, 

"News  of  his  intention  being  brought  to  To-pee-nee-bee  and 
Kee-po-tali,  under  wliose  care  tlie  prisoners  were,  they  held  a 
private  council  with  Chandonnai,  Mr.  Kinzie,  and  the  principal 
men  of  the  village,  the  re=ult  of  which  was,  a  determination  to 
•send  Capt.  and  Mrs.  Heald  to  the  island  of  Mackinac,  and  de- 
liver them  up  to  the  British. 

"  They  were  accordingly  put  in  a  bark  canoe,  and  paddled  by 
Robinson  and  his  wife  a  distance  of  three  hundred  miles  along 
the  coast  of  Michigan,  and  surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war  to 
the  commanding  officer  at  Mackinac. 

"As  an  instance  of  the  procrastinating  spirit  of  Capt.  Heald, 
it  may  be  mentioned  that  even  after  he  had  received  certain  in- 
telligence that  his  Indian  captor  was  on  his  way  from  the  Kan- 
kakee to  St.  Joseph's  to  retake  him,  he  would  still  have  delayed 
another  day  at  that  place,  to  make  preparation  for  a  more  com- 
Ibrtable  journey  to  Mackinac* 

"The  soldiers,  with  their  wives  and  surviving  children,  were 
■dispersed  among  the  diflferent  villages  of  the  Pottawattamies 
upon  the  Illinois,  Wabash,  Rock  River,  and  at  Milwaukie,  until 
the  following  spring,  when  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  carried 
to  Detroit,  and  ransomed. 

"  Mrs.  Burns,  with  her  infant,  became  the  prisoners  of  a  chief, 
who  carried  her  to  his  village  and  treated  her  with  great  kind- 
ness. His  wife,  from  jealousy  of  the  favor  shown  to  'the  white 
"woman'  and  lier  child,  always  treated  them  with  great  hostility. 
On  one  occasion  she  struck  the  infant  with  a  tomahawk,  and 
narrowly  missed  her  aim  of  pntting  an  end  to  it  altogether.! 
They  were  not  left  lon^  in  the  power  of  the  old  hag,  after  this 
demonstration,  but  on  the  first  opportunity  carried  to  a  place  of 
safety. 

"  The  family  of  Mr.  Lee  had  resided  in  a  house  on  the  lake 
shore,  not  far  from  the  fort.  Mr.  Lee  was  the  owner  of  Lee's 
Place,  which  he  cultivated  as  a  farm.  It  was  his  son  who  ran 
down  with  the  discharged  soldier  to  give  the  alarm  of  '  Indians ' 
at  the  fort  on  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of  April.    The  father, 

*  Captain  (subsequently  Major)  Heald,  his  wife  and  family,  settled  in  the 
•country  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  aft«r  the  war,  about  1817,  where  he  died,  about 
fifteen  years  since.  He  waa  respected  and  beloved  by  bis  acquaintance.  His 
health  was  impaired  by  the  wounds  he  received. — Western  Annala,  published  in 
1860. 

t  Twenty-two  years  after  this,  as  I  was  on  a  journey  to  Chicago  in  the  steamer 
Uncle  Sam,  a  young  woman,  hearing  my  name,  introduced  herself  to  me,  and 
raising  the  hair  from  her  forehead,  showed  me  the  mark  of  the  tomahawk 
which  Had  so  nearly  been  fatal  to  her. 


Black  Partridge  as  A  Rejected  Lover.  2S7 

the  eon,  and  all  the  other  members  of  the  laniily,  had  fallen  vic- 
tims on  the  15th  of  An<^ust,  except  Mrs.  Lee  and  her  yonng 
infant.  These  were  claimed  by  Black  Partridge,  and  carried  to 
his  village  on  the  An  Sable.  He  had  been  particularly  attached 
to  a  little  girl  of  Mrs.  Lee's,  about  twelve  years  of  age.  This 
child  had  been  placed  on  liorseI)ack  for  the  march,  and  as  she  was 
unaccustomed  to  the  exercise,  she  was  tied  fast  to  the  saddle,  lest 
by  any  accident  she  should  slip  oif  or  be  thrown. 

"  She  was  within  reach  of  the  balls  at  the  commencement  of 
the  engagement,  and  was  severely  wounded.  The  horse  set  oft 
in  a  full  gallop,  which  partly  threw  her,  but  she  was  held  fast  by 
the  bands  which  contined  her,  and  hung  dangling  as  the  animal 
ran  violently  about.  In  this  state  she  was  met  by  Black  Part- 
ridge, who  caught  the  horse  and  disengaged  her  from  the  saddle. 
Finding  her  so  much  wounded  that  she  could  not  recover,  and 
that  she  was  snflfering  great  agony,  he  put  the  finishing  stroke  to 
her  at  once  with  his  tomahawk.  He  afterward  said  that  this  was 
the  hardest  thing  he  ever  tried  to  do,  but  he  did  it  because  he 
could  not  bear  to  see  her  suffer. 

"  He  took  the  mother  and  her  infant  to  his  village,  where  he 
became  warmly  attached  to  the  former — so  much  so,  that  he 
Avished  to  marry  her,  but  as  she  very  naturally  objected,  he  treated 
her  with  the  greatest  respect  and  consideration.  He  was  in  no 
Lurry  to  release  her,  for  he  was  in  hopes  of  prevailing  on  her  to 
beconje  his  wife.  In  the  course  of  the  winter  her  child  fell  ill. 
Finding  that  none  of  the  remedies  within  their  reach  were  efiect- 
iial.  Black  Partridge  proposed  to  take  the  little  one  to  Chicago, 
where  there  was  now  a  French  trader  living  in  the  mansion  of 
Mr.  Kinzie,  and  procure  some  medical  aid  from  him.  Y/ rapping 
Tip  his  charge  with  the  greatest  care,  he  sat  out  on  his  journey. 

When  he  arrived  at  the  residence  of  M.  Du  Pin,  he  entered  the 
room  where  he  was,  and  carefully  placed  his  burthen  on  the  floor. 

" '  What  have  you  there  ? '  asked  M.  Du  Pin. 

"  'A  young  raccoon,  which  I  have  brought  you  as  a  present,'  was 
the  reply,  and  opening  the  pack,  he  showed  the  little  sick  infant. 

"  When  the  trader  had  prescribed  for  its  complaint,  and  Black 
Partridge  was  about  to  retnrn  to  his  home,  he  told  his  friend  his 
proposal  to  Mrs.  Lee  to  become  his  wife  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  had  been  received. 

"M.  Du  Pin  entertained  some  fears  that  the  chief's  honorable 
resolution  might  not  hold  out,  to  leave  it  to  the  lady  herself 
whether  to  accept  his  addresses  or  not,  so  he  entered  at  once  into 
a  negotiation  for  her  ransom,  and  so  effectually  wrought  ii{K)ii 
the  good  feelings  of  Black  Partridge  that  he  consented  to  bring 
his  lair  prisoner  at  once  to  Chicago,  that  she  might  be  restored 
to  her  friends. 


288  Dcath-hed  Contrition  of  Nau-non-gee. 

"  Whether  the  kind  trader  had  at  the  oiitset,  any  othei  feelin  <^  in 
the  matter  than  syni|)athy  and  brotherly  kindness  we  cannot  say 
— we  only  know  *^liat,  in  ])roeess  of  time  Mrs.  Lee  became 
Madame  Du  Pin,  and  that  they  lived  together  iu  great  happi- 
ness for  many  _\'ears  after. 

"The  fate  of  Xau-non-gee,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Calnmet 
village,  and  who  is  mentioned  in  the  early  part  of  the  narrative, 
deserves  to  be  recorded. 

"Dnring  the  battle  of  the  15th  of  Angust,  the  chief  object 
of  his  attac':  was  oiie  Sergeant  Hays,  a  man  from  whom  lie  had 
received  many  acts  of  kindness. 

"  After  Hays  had  received  a  ball  throngh  the  body,  this  In- 
dian ran  up  to  him  to  tomahawk  him,  when  the  Sergeant,  col- 
lecting his  remaining  strength,  piei-ced  him  through  the  body 
with  his  bayonet.  They  fell  together.  Other  Indians  running 
up  soon  dispatched  Hays,  and  it  was  not  until  then  that  his 
bayonet  was  extracted  from  the  body  of  his  adversary. 

"  The  M-ounded  chief  M-as  carried  after  tlie  battle  to  his  village 
on  the  Calumet,  where  he  survived  for  several  days.  Finding- 
his  end  approaching,  he  called  together  his  young  men,  and  en- 
foined  them  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to  resrard  the  safetv  of 
their  prisoners  after  his  death,  and  to  take  the  lives  of  none  of 
them  from  respect  to  his  memory,  as  he  deserved  his  fate  from 
the  hands  of  those  whose  kindness  he  had  so  ill- requited."* 

[From  Niles  Register,  Vol.  IV,  p.  82.1 

Saturday  April  :3d  1813. 

Mrs.  Helm,  the  wife  of  Lieut.  Helm,  who  escaped  from  the  butcherv  of  the 
panison  of  Chicaitffa  by  the  assistance  of  a  humane  Indian,  has  arrived  at  this 
place,  Buffialo.  The  account  of  her  sufferings  during  three  months'  slavery 
among  th*>  Indians  and  three  months'  imprisonment  among  their  allies,  would 
make  a  most  interesting  volume.  One  circumstance  alone  1  will  mention.  Dur- 
ing five  days  after|.she  was  taken  prisoner,  she  had  not  the  least  sustenance,  and 
was  compelled  to  di-ag  a  canoe  ( barefooted  and  wading  along  the  stream  i  in 
which  there  were  some  squaws,  and  when  she  demanded  food,  some  flesh  of  her 
murdered  countrymen,  and  a  piece  of  ColonelWells'  heart  was  offered  her.  She 
knows  tho  fact  that  Col.  Proctor,  the  British  commander  at  Maiden,  bought  the 
scalps  of  our  murdered  garrison  of  Chicauga,  and,  thanks  to  her  noble  spirit, 
she  Doldly  charged  him  with  his  infamy  in  his  own  house.  She  knows  further 
from  the  tribe  with  whom  she  was  a  prisoner,  and  who  were  perpetrators  of 
those  murders,  that  they  intended  to  remain  true,  but  that  they  received  orders 
from  the  British  to  cut  off  the  garrison  whom  they  were  to  escort. 

(This  last  assertion  probably  originated  in  the  brain  of  the  editor  of  Niles 
Register,  as  Mrs.  Helm  in  her  narrative  brings  no  such  arraingment  against  the 
British.)-— Author. 

*  Mrs.  Helm,  who  after  the  return  of  the  Kinzie  family  to  Chicago,  became 
the  intimate  friend  of  Mrs.  John  H.  Kinzie,  has  drawn  a  vivid  picture  of  tho 
Chicago  massacre,  seldom  equaled  by  a  historic  pen.  In  Wabun  it  has  been 
reproduced  iu  Mrs.  Kinzie's  lucid  style,  whose  freshness  can  never  be  equalled 
by  any  future  historian,  since  the  hand  of  time  has  spread  its  mantle  of  obliv- 
ion over  the  incidents  of  that  day.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  transferred  to 
these  columns. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Tne  British  take  the  Offensive — Fort  Wayne  Beseiged  hy  their 
Indian  Allies — Timely  Warning  to  its  Defertders — General 
Harrison  Marches  to  its  Defense — Desperate  and  Successful 
Defense  of  Fort  Harrison  hy  Captain  Taylor  —  Dannq 
Achievement  of  Captain  Oliver — Ar^'ival  of  General  Ham- 
son  at  Fort  Wayne — Its  Beseigers  fly — Expedition  Against 
the  Indian  Toions  on  the  Illinois  Biver — Its  Bootless  Ter- 
mination— Governor  Reynolds  in  the  Kanl's — His  State- 
ment— Relentless  Attack  on  Peoria — The  English  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi — Black  Hawk'^s  Historical  Narration. 

!N"o  human  vision  could  forecast  the  future  destiny  of  the 
country  around  the  Upper  Lakes  after  the  sui-render  of  Micliili- 
manaekinae,  Chicago  and  Detroit.  That  the  Indians  would 
ever  be  driven  entirely  out  of  the  country  was  an  event  that  no 
British  Canadian  ever  deemed  possible,  and  accordingly  Tecum- 
seh  was,  in  the  eyes  of  General  Brock,  the  head  and  front  of  a 
permanent  dynasty  to  live  in  the  future  on  the  soil.  He  had 
accomplished  all  that  was  required  of  him  in  the  late  campaign, 
which  had  terminated  so  gloriously  to  British  arms.  And  now 
a  new  one  was  contemplated,  which  was  to  carry  the  war  into 
the  very  vitj^ls  of  the  Northwest,  by  taking  Fort  Wayne  and 
Fort  Harrison,  which  was  built  by  General  Harrison  during  his 
Tippecanoe  campaign.  There  v/ere  then  no  maps  of  the  coun- 
try obtainable  in  the  British  camp;  but  to  supply  this  deficiency 
Teeumseh  drew  a  sketch  of  its  rivers,  which  indeed  were  nearly 
all  that  could  be  shown  at  that  time.  General  Brock  was  agree- 
ably surprised  at  his  versatility  of  talent,  and  with  all  confidence 
counseled  with  him  as  to  future  plans.  Fort  Wayne  was  the 
important  objective  point,  and  no  time  must  be  lost  in  seizing 
upon  it,  lest  the  Americans  should  reinforce  the  place  before  the 
attack  was  made.  It  was  therefore  ordered  that  the  Indians 
should  march  against  the  place  immediately,  and  environ  it  to. 
prevent  the  escape  of  the  garrison,  till  a  British  army  could  ar- 
rive at  the  spot  and  make  its  conquest  certain.  Prominent 
among  the  tribes  who  volunteered  in  this  enterprise,  were  the 


290  I^ort  Wayne  Besieged. 

Pottawattomies,  whose  acliievenient  at  Chicago  had  emboldened 
them  and  whetted  their  appetites  for  phmder.  The  part  thej 
were  to  take  was  planned  at  a  council  at  St.  Joseph,  wiiere  their 
chiefs  met  tlie  British  ai,'ents,  and  were  promised  if  they  would 
lay  siege  to  the  place  and  prevent  the  escape  of  the  garrison  till 
the  British  forces  came  up,  they  should  he  allowed  to  plunder 
the  fort  when  taken.  This  inducement  was  sufficient,  an  1  they 
promptly  joined  their  forces  to  some  Shawanese  and  Miamis, 
and  a])peared  before  the  ])lai'e  before  August  had  passed. 

True  to  their  time-honored  custom,  they  ir  le  no  direct  attac'-, 
but  bent  all  their  efforts  to  gain  the  place  by  stratagy,  ki.i 
the  sentinels  and  throw  the  gates  of  the  fort  open  to  their 
braves,  who  all  the  while  were  o-ouching  in  a  covert  near  b}*. 
But  before  this  was  to  be  done,  the  Miamis  wished  to  save  their 
friend,  Antoine  Bondie,  a  French  trader  who  had  married  one  of 
their  tribe,  and  had  won  their  affections  by  a  residence  of  thirty- 
eight  years  among  them.  Metea,  a  Pottawattomie  chief,  was 
deputied  to  go  privately  to  his  cabin  and  inform  him  of  the  In- 
dians intentions,  and  make  arrangements  for  the  rescue  of  him- 
self and  family.  This  news  placed  the  trader  in  an  embarassing 
situation,  and  he  was  in  a  dilera  iua  to  know  what  to  do,  but 
finally  resolved  to  betray  the  confidence  of  tlie  Indians,  and  even 
forfeit  their  protection,  by  revealing  the  plot  ^o  Major  Stickuey, 
the  Indian  agent.  This  he  did  the  next  morning  under  an  in- 
junction of  secrecy,  and  from  him  the  information  was  soon 
given  to  Capt.  Rhea,  the  officer  who  held  command  of  the  fort. 

All  the  while  the  agent  was  skeptical  as  to  the  truth  of  the 
news,  but  on  maturing  the  matter  over,  both  he  and  Capt.  Rhea 
concluded  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to  meet  the  emergency,  in 
case  it  should  come  upon  them,  and  immediately  sent  a  messen- 

fer  to  General  Harrison,  then  at  Cincinnati,  and  one  to  Governor 
[eigs,  of  Ohio,  asking  assistance,  and  a  third  messenger  to  Ft, 
Harrison,  to  warn  its  inmates  of  danger.  This  done,  preparations 
for  defending  the  fort  were  made.* 

While  the  slender  garrison  are  hotly  pressed  by  their  swarthy 
foes,  a  furious  attack  was  made  on  Fort  Harrison.  It  was  situ- 
ated on  the  Wabash  river,  ten  miles  above  its  present  intersec- 
tion of  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  Illinois.  On  the  3d  of  Sep- 
tember the  Shawanese  had  visited  the  Pigeon  Roost  settlement, 
not  far  from  the  place,  with  a  destructive  raid,  in  which  20  per- 
sons were  killed,  whose  scalps  were  soon  dangling  fivra  the  belts 
of  these  merciless  knights  of  the  tomahawk. 

This  fresh  alarm  drove  the  immediate  settlers  around  Fort 
Harrison  within  its  walls  for  protectioji.     Young  Capt.  Taylor, 

'Rriee's  History  of  Ft.  Wayne. 


Brave  Defense  of  Fort  Harrison.  201 

the  same  who  afterwar  Is  became  President  of  the  United  States, 
held  command  of  the  place,  to  defend  whicli  he  had  but  18  men. 
Xine  women  and'their  children  had  taken  refuge  within  its  walls, 
in  a  fearful  suspense,  for  the  forests  were  alive  with  Indians  on 
the  war-path.  On  the  ni_2;ht  of  the  4th,  at  11  o'clock,  the  inmates 
of  the  fort  were  aroused  from  their  disquiet  slumbers  by  the 
report  of  a  rifle.  Captain  Taylor  sprang  from  his  couch,  and 
found  that  the  shot  came  from  one  of  his  sentinels  tiring  at  the 
skulking  foe,  who,  in  great  numbers,  immediately  began  the  at- 
tack. One  of  the  block  houses  was  soon  set  on  tire,  and  two 
panic  stricken  soldiers  leaped  over  the  barricades  and  fled  into 
the  forest  for  an  asylum  from  the  scalping  knife,  while  the  terri- 
fied women  pressed  their  babes  to  their  breasts  in  despair. 

Young  Taylor's  voice  now  rose  above  the  din  of  yells  without 
and  wailings  within,  giving  orders  to  throw  off  the  roof  of  the 
building  which  connncted  the  burning  block  house  with  the  main 
defenses.  This  arrested  the  progress  of  the  flames.  The  sharp- 
shooters now  kept  the  attackers  at  bay  till  morning,  when  they 
withdrew,  to  the  great  relief  of  the  garrison. 

Of  the  two  soldiers  who  forsook  the  fort  in  a  panic,  one  was 
killed  and  the  other  after  being  wounded  took  refuge  behind  a 
barrel  close  by  the  pallisades.  On  the  13th,  Capt.  Taylor  found 
means  to  send  a  messenger  to  General  Harrison,  and  on  the  16th 
he  was  rescued  from  his  perilous  position  by  Colonel  Hopkins 
tln'ii,  atthe  head  6f  1200  volunteers,  on  their  way  to  the  Illi- 
nois territory.  Turning  again  to  Ft.  Wayne,  we  find  both  be- 
selgers  and  beseiged  waiting  for  reinforcements.  The  Indians 
kept  up  their  wily  devices  wherewith  to  gain  peaceable  admittance 
to  the  fort  in  sufliicient  numbers  to  overpower  the  sentinals,  and 
even  the  old  friendly  chietj  Winnemac,  was  a  leading  spirit  in 
this  attempted  treachery.  At  one  time  he  was  admitted  under  a 
white  'flag,  with  thirteen  of  his  comrades,  but  he  found  the 
guard  ready  to  overpower  his  band  ^yhen  the  critical  moment 
came,  and  the  discomfited  dissemblers  retired  by  virtue  of  the 
same  flag  by  which  they  had  gained  admittance. 

The  next  day  two  soldiers  outside  of  the  fort  were  fired  upon 
by  the  Indians  and  both  killed.  This  was  an  overt  act,  and 
tnade  any  future  pretentioris  of  friendshii)  on  the  part  of  the 
(Tulians  a  gossamer  fabric  of  pretense.  The  beleaguered  garri- 
son, which  numbered  but  80  men,  commanded  by  a  drunken 
yiarvenu,  and  surrounded  by  a  countless  host  of  savages  thirst- 
ing for  their  blood,  were  in  desperate  extremities.  While  thus 
eking  out  their  hours  of  unremitting  watchfulness,  a  yell  of 
triumph  saluted  their  ears  from  the  iiortliern  gate,  and  through 
its  opening  ajar  rushed  their  old  friend  William  Oliver  j.nd 
tlu-ee  friendly  Itidians  at  iiis  back.     ITis  storv  was  s<H>n  told  to 


292       Oliver  Penetrates  Through  the  Enetny^s  Lines. 

the  anxious  garrison,  who  had  not  received  any  tidings  from  the 
outside  world  since  their  messengers  liad  been  sent  to  General 
Harrison  to  apprise  him  of  their  danger.  Oliver  was  at  Cincin- 
nati on  a  brief  visit,  when  the  news  of  the  attack  on  Fort 
Wayne  came  to  General  Harrison,  and  he  instantly  resolved  to 
hasten  back  to  the  beleaguered  post,  of  which  he  was  sutler,  to 
inform  them  that  Harrison  would  soon  arrive  at  the  place  with 
sufficient  force  to  raise  the  seige,  and  to  assist  in  its  defense  till 
he  came.  The  adventure  was  a  desperate  one,  which  could  only 
be  conceived  by  a  bold  spirit  of  hardihood  which  pioneer  life 
in  that  day  had  brought  into  being  on  the  frontier.  Starting 
from  Cincinnati  immediately  on  his  mission,  he  pursued  the 
forest  road  to  the  St.  Mary's  river,  where  Thomas  Worthington 
commanded  an  encampment  of  Ohio  militia  (the  same  who- 
afterwards  became  governor  of  Ohio).  To  him  Oliver  commu- 
nicated his  plan,  and  animated  by  Oliver's  heroism,  Worthington 
joined  him  with  68  militia  and  16  friendly  Shawanese.  At  the 
head  of  this  force,  the  two  bold  leaders  advanced  down  the  St. 
Mary's  river  towards  the  place,  but  on  '  second  day  36  of  the 
Militia  and  ten  of  their  Indian  allies  deserted. 

One  day's  march  now  brought  the  reduced  but  courageous  band 
within  the  hearing  of  the  enemies'  guns,  who  had  crouched 
around  Fort  Wayne  on  every  side,  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the 
garrison. 

What  was  to  be  done?  To  attempt  with  this  small  force  to 
pierce  the  lines  of  the  enemy  by  a  direct  attack  was  not  to  be 
thought  of,  and  Oliver,  with  three  Indian  companions,  determined 
to  steal  their  way  to  the  fort  through  grounds  not  occupied  by  the 
besiegers.  Pursuing  the  main  road  leading  to  the  fort,  five  miles 
distant  from  it  they  found  the  enemies'  rifle-pits,  which,  happily 
tor  Oliver  and  his  party,  were  not  occupied,  but  fearing  to  ad- 
vance further  aloi  ( the  road,  they  made  a  detour  to  the  east 
through  the  woods,  and  came  to  the  banks  of  the  Maumee,  one 
and  a  naif  miles  below  the  fort.  Here  they  tied  their  horses  in  a 
thicket,  and  crept  carefully  toward  the  fort  to  see  if  it  was  still 
in  possession  ot  the  Americans.  After  a  nearer  approach,  they 
beheld  the  American  flag  elevated  above  the  bastions,  and  soon 
afterwards  saw  the  measured  pace  of  the  sentinels  at  their  ]>ost. 
The  party  then  returned,  and  mounting  their  horses,  put  them 
into  a  keen  run  till  the  inside  of  the  fort  was  safely  reached. 
Harrison  is  coming;  this  was  the  news  he  brought  to  the  almost 
spent  garrison.* 

Harrison  had  just  received  from  the  governor  of  Kentucky  the 
appointment  of  Major-General  by  brevet,  and  to  him  was  giveq 

•Howes'  Great  West ;  Brice's  History  of  Fort  Wayne. 


General  Harrison  Believes  Fort  Wayne.  2J>3 

the  coi:  Tiand  of  2,000  Kentucky  troops,  which  the  patriotic  ^^ov- 
»ernor  \c*(l  raised  for  the  defense  of  the  iS^orthwest.  To  these 
were  added  700  Ohio  volunteers,  wlio  joined  the  Kentucky  forces 
at  Piqua,  Ohio,  from  whence  they  advanced  toward  the  objective 
point  with  all  possible  speed.  Wlien  within  seventeen  miles  of 
the  place.  General  Harrison  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  as 
follows:  "  The  necessary  arrangements  for  the  procuring  of 
provisions  and  ammunition,  added  to  the  trouble  of  establisliing 
an  issuing  commissary  department,  in  consequence  of  the  failure 
of  the  contractor,  has  prevented  me  from  reaching  Ft.  Wayne  as 
soon  by  one  day  as  I  expected.  I  shall,  however,  reach  it  to-mor- 
row; but  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  it  will  not  be  without  a 
severe  contest.  No  information  has  been  received  from  the  fort 
since  the  3d  inst.,  and  should  the  Indians  have  been  assisted  by 
a,  British  detachment,  I  fear  it  would  not  have  been  able  to  hold 
out.  A  small  detachment  which  I  sent  to  endeavor  to  penetrate 
to  the  fort  has  just  returned,  without  accomplishing  their  object, 
although  they  defeated  a  small  party  of  the  enemy."* 

The  next  dav,  the  12th  of  September,  General  Harrison  arrived 
-at  the  place,  when  the  Indians,  as  they  had  not  been  reinforced 
by  the  British,  fled  in  hot  haste,  some  to  their  wilderness  lodges, 
iind  others  to  the  military  headquarters  of  their  English  Father, 
still  breathing  vengeance.  Since  the  destruction  of  Chicago  there 
were  no  white  inhabitants  in  the  whole  territory  of  Illinois,  north 
■of  a  line  drawn  from  Shawneetown  to  Greenville,  Bond  county, 
thence  to  the  Mississippi  river,  a  little  north  of  Alton,  except 
some  sparse  settlements  on  the  west  bank  of  tlie  Wabash,  oppo- 
site Vincennes,  the  old  town  of  Peoria,  which  had  never  been 
brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  territorial  government, 
:and  Prairie  du  Chien,  which  was  then  within  the  limits  of  Illi- 
nois Territory.  At  the  latter  place  lived  tiiirty-seven  families  of 
mixed  nationalities,  consisting  of  French,  English,  half-breeds  and 
Americans.  An  Indian  Agent  named  Campbell,  appointed  by  the 
governor  of  Illinois,  acted  as  magistrate,  to  dispense  justice,  and 
appears  to  have  exercised  these  functions  to  the  entire  satisfac- 
tion of  his  motley  charge.  Among  his  judicial  records,  which 
are  still  extant,  are  his  fees  for  marrying,  which  were  100  lbs.  of 
flour,  while  his  fees  for  divorce  were  200  Ibs.f 

The  whole  territory  was  divided  into  two  counties — St.  Clair 
and  Randolph — and  Kinian  Edwards  was  governor.  It  c  tntaiiied 
12,284  inhabitants,  168  of  whom  were  colored  slaves. 

While  Gen.  Harrison  was  marching  to  the  relief  of  Ft.Wsiyne,  an 

*Dawson.  p.  290. 

t^w  Karly  History  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  by  D.  S.  Durrie,  Librarian  of  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 


294  Expedition  Against  Indian  Toiciis  on  Illinois  River. 

expedition  was  set  on  foot  a<;ainst  tlie  Kickapoo  towns  on  the 
Illinois  river,  which  was  to  be  composed  of  2,000  men,  raised  by 
Governor  Shelby,  of  Kentucky,  and  350  United  States  Ran^oi's 
and  Illinois  volunteers,  stationed  at  Camp  Russell,  where  Ed- 
wardsville,'  111.  now  stands,  subject  to  the  orders  of  Ninian  Ed- 
wards, then  Governor  of  Illinois.  The  command  of  the  Ken- 
tucky volunteers  was  given  to  General  Hopkins,  who  was  to  move- 
up  the  Wabash,  destroy  the  Indian  towns  on  its  west  bank,  and 
then  march  westward  across  the  country,  to  form  a  junction  with 
the  Rangers  from  Camp  Russell.  He  reached  Ft.  Harrison  on 
the  26th  of  October,  1812,  where  Captain  Taylor,  with  his  little- 
handful  of  men,  who  had  just  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
desperate  defense  of  the  place,  joined  his  expedition,  and  lie 
turned  his  course  to  the  west  into  the  Illinois  prairies.  After 
continuing  his  march  three  or  four  days,  the  signs  of  insubordi- 
nation became  apparent  among  the  restive  spirits  which  composed 
his  army.  Most  of  them  were  raw  recruits,  who  had  never  seen, 
a  shot  fired  in  earnest.  Many  of  them,  when  they  enlisted,  mis- 
took a  spirit  of  wild  adventure  for  patriotism;  but  a  few  days  of 
camp  discipline,  with  the  possibility  of  a  tough  Indian  battle,  or 
worse,  an  ambuscade,  before  them,  became  unruly.  This  spirit 
unfortunately  spread  from  rank  to  rank,  till  a  majority  of  the- 
army  shared  it,  and  General  Hopkins  was  forced  to  return,  with- 
out making  anj'^  farther  attempts  to  form  the  expected  junction 
with  the  forces  from  Camp  Russell. 

Meantime  the  forces  under  Governor  Edwards  marched  single- 
handed  against  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Illinois  river.  Says  Gov- 
ernor Reynolds,  in  his  history  of  his  own  times:  "  Colonel  Russell 
marched  in  the  campaign  and  seemed  to  take,  considerably,  the 
immediate  command  under  Governor  Edwards.  Judge  Pope, 
Nelson  Rector  and  a  Lieut.  McLaughlin,  of  the  army,  acted  as. 
aids.  Colonel  Russell  was  a  plain  old  man  dressed  in  Kentucky 
jeans  or  linsey,  seemed  to  need  no  aids  and  had  none,  but  was  a 
good  and  efficient  officer  himself.  We  left  Camp  Russell, 
marched  up  the  northwest  side  of  Cahokia  creek,  nearly  to  it& 
source,  thence  across  the  prairie  to  Macoupin  creek,  not  far  above 
the  present  Oarlinville.  The  privates  (and  myself  one)  did  not 
know  or  care  much  where  we  were  marched,  whether  into  dan- 
ger or  a  frolic.  We  crossed  the  Sangamon  river  east  of  the 
present  Springfield,  and  passed  not  far  on  the  east  of  the  Elk- 
neart  Grove.  We  next  reached  an  old  Indian  villnge  on  Sugar 
creek,  where  we  saw  on  the  bark  of  the  wigwams  much  ]>ainting» 
generally  the  Indians  scalping  the  whites.  We  set  it  in  flames, 
and  traveled  in  the  night  towards  Peoria.  We  were  afraid  that 
the  Indians  would  kiiow  of  our  approach  and  leave  tlie  villages. 
We  traveled  on  till   towards  inidnight  and   camped.     AV'e  hud 


Black  Partridge's  Village  Attacked.  ^J^'o 

guides  along  who  conducted  tlie  army  to  t]ic  village  of  Potta- 
wattomie  Indians  known  as  the  Black  ravtridge  Village,*  situate 
at  the  Illinois  river  bluff  opposite  tlie  upper  end  of  Peoria 
lake.  We  camped  wuthin  four  or  five  miles  of  the  village,  and 
all  was  silent  as  a  grave3'ard — as  we  expected  a  night  attack  as 
wis  the  case  at  Tippecanoe.  "When  troops  are  silent,  sulky  and 
savage,  they  will  fight.  One  thing  I  recalled,  I  had  a  white 
coat  on  me,  and  I  considered  it  too  white  at  night.  I  hulled 
this  coat  ofi"  in  doiible-quick  time.  It  is  said  every  one  with  a 
white  coat  on  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  was  killed.  The  next 
morning  in  a  fog,  our  company  of  spies  met  two  Indians,  as  we 
supposed,  and  our  captain  fired  on  them.  Many  of  us,  before 
lie  shot,  begged  for  mercy  for  the  Indians,  as  they  wanted  to  sur- 
render. Bnt  Judyf  said  anybody  will  surrender  when  they  can- 
not help  it,  and  that  he  did  not  leave  home  to  take  prisoners.  I 
saw  the  dust  rise  off  the  Indian's  leather  shirt  when  Judy'  bullet 
entered  his  body.  The  wounded  Indian  commenced  singing  his 
death  song,  the  blood  streaming  out  of  his  mouth  and  nose.  He 
was  reeling,  and  a  .r.ctn  from  the  main  army,  Mr.  Wright, 
came  up  within  a  few  yards,  but  the  Indian  had  just  pointed  his 
gun  at  some  of  us  near  him,  when  we  darted  off  our  horses,  quick 
ju:  thought,  and  presented  the  horses  between  him  and  us.  But 
Wright  was  either  surprised,  or  something  else,  and  remained  on 
his  horse.  The  Indian,  as  quick  as  a  steel-trap,  shot  Wright,  and 
expired.  The  other  Indian,  supposed  to  be  a  warrior,  proved  to 
be  a  squaw;  but  before  the  fact  was  known,  many  guns  were  fired 
at  her.  It  is  singular  that  so  many  guns  fired  at  the  squaw 
missed  her,  but  when  the  whites  surrounded  her  and  knew  her 
sex,  all  was  over.  She  cried  terribly,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
at  last  delivered  over  to  her  nation.  Many  of  the  French  in  the 
army  understood  her  language,  and  made  lier  as  happy  as  possi- 
ble. In  this  small  matter  I  never  fired  my  gun,  as  I  saw  no  oc- 
casion for  it." 

The  foregoing  words  of  Governor  Eeynolds  have  been  used  to 
show  the  ruliftg  spirit  of  the  expedition,  which  was  the  first  one 
ever  sent  against  the  Indians  of  Illinois  by  the  Americans.  After 
relating  these  adventures,  which  certain I3'  reflect  no  credit  on  those 
engaged  in  them,  the  same  historian  proceeds  to  give  a  history 
of  the  burning  of  Peoria  by  Captain  Craig,  and  says: 

"While  the  army  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  old  vil- 
lage of  Peoria,  Captain  Craig  had  his  boat  lying  in  the  lake  ad- 
jacent to  Peoria.     *    *    *    The  Captain,  supposing  the  few  in- 

*  The  ijame  who  the  previoui  yenr  had  saved  the  life  0'  Mrs.  Helm,  as  told 
in  the  relation  of  The  I.  hicago  Mai^siicre.  . 

t  One  of  the  -i^i'^s. 


296  Peoria  Attacked.   .;••  i 

habitants  of  Peovia  favored  the  Indians,  burnt  the  village.  Thom- 
as Forsyth,  Esq.,  was  in  the  village  at  the  time,  acting  as  Indian 
agent,  appointed  by  the  government,  but  Craig  and  none  others 
knew  it>  except  at  Washington  city.  It  was  supposed  by  the 
President  that  Mr.  Forsyth  would  be  more  serviceable  to  both 
sides  if  his  old  friends,  the  Indians,  did  not  know  his  situation. 
He  acted  the  honorable  part  to  ameliorate  the  horrors  of  war  on 
both  sides,  and  risked  his  life  often  amongst  the  Indi-^- -^  to  ob- 
tain some  of  the  prisoners  who  had  been  captured  at  the  massacre 
at  Chicago.  In  the  rage  of  Captain  Craig,  he  placed  tue  inhab- 
itants oi"  Peoria  (all  he  could  capture)  on  board  his  boat,  and 
landed  them  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  below  Alton.  These  poor 
French  were  in  a  starving  condition,  as  they  were  turned  away 
from  their  homes,  and  left  their  stock  and  provisions.  They  were 
landed  in  the  woods — men,  women  and  children — without  shelter 
or  food."  * 

Before  the  army  of  Governor  Edwards  left  the  neighborhood, 
it  entered  the  village  of  Black  Partridge,  opposed  only  by  a  few 
shots  from  the  swamps  around  it.  The  warriors  had  fled,  and  a 
few  wretched  squaws  and  children  were  all  the  prisoners  taken. 
The  village,  with  its  stores  of  corn,  was  burned.  The  rangers 
only  remained  a  few  hours,  but  while  there  a  stately  warrior 
approached  the  place  until  within  rifle  shot,  discharged  his  gun 
at  the  invaders,  laughed  defiatitly,  and  walked  away  with  the 
lofty  gait  that  only  an  Indian  can  assume.  This  brave  was  sup- 
posed to  be  Black  Partridge. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  in  Indiana  and  Illinois, 
the  English  were  taking  steps  to  secure  the  alliance  of  the  Sacs 
and  Foxes,  who  then  occupied  the  country  along  Rock  river. 
Robert  Dickson,  an  English  fur  trader,  who  lived  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  was  the  English  agent  to  accomplish  this  design ;  and  to 
this  end  he  vieited  all  the  tribes  along  the  Mississippi.  Black 
Hawk  was  then  a  young  chief  of  more  than  common  promise, 
and  readily  became  a  disciple  to  the  teachings  of  the  English 
emissary.  His  remarkable  career  now  began,  which  made  him  a 
conspicuous  actor  in  the  last  Indian  war  in  Illinois,  which  ter- 
minated in  1832.  The  Sacs  and  Foxes,  of  whom  he  was  a  subor- 
dinate chief,  were  then  in  their  glory  and  prime,  and  as  a  bulwark 

*  Captain  Craig's  expedition  was  executed'by  the  authority  of  Governor  Ed- 
wards. It  consisted  of  an  armed  boat  which  was  rowed  or  polled  up  the 
Illinois  river,  for  the  purpose  of  takinj?  Peoria,  where  some  of  the  earlv  French 
settlers  lived  in  harmonious  relations  with  the  Indians,  ana  were  accused  of  fur- 
nishing them  the  means  wherewith  to  make  war  on  the  Americans.  Uv.  Cniig, 
;p.  ai3  official  despatches,  admits  that  he  nb-lucted  '.he  French  inhabitants  from 
i-eoria.  and  that  he  made  them  furnisa  their  own  /ations.  See  Balance  History 
of  Peoria,  pp.  '60,  Itl. 


Black  HawTc's  Narration.  297 

of  defense  against  them,  the  United  States  had  built  Fort  Madi- 
son in  1804," on  tlie  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  opposite  to  the 
Des  Moines  Rapids.  The  consent  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  for  the 
construction  of  it  had  been  obtained  under  a  pretense  that  it  was 
only  to  be  used  as  a  trading  post. 

The  following  extract  of  a  statement  from  Black  Hawk,  is  a 
concise  piece  of  documentary  history,  which  adds  interest  to  the 
points  treated  on  by  general  history,  and  furnishes  some  items 
not  noticed  by  any  other  writer.  His  statement  begins  by  dis- 
claiming against  a  treaty  executed  at  St.  Louis  in  1804,  by  which 
his  people,  unwittingly,  as  he  says,  relinquished  a  part  of  their 
territory,  after  which,  his  story  runs  us  follows.  It  is  copied  ver- 
batim from  Smith's  History  of  "Wisconsin  : 

'•  Black  Hawk  proceeds  to  relate,  that  some  time  after  this  treaty 
was  made,  a  war  chief  with  a  party  of  soldiers  came  up  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  keel-boats,  and  encamped  a  short  distance  above  the  head 
of  the  Des  Moines  Rapids,  and  commenced  cutting  timber  and 
building  houses;  this  was  at  the  site  of  Fort  Madison,  and  within 
the  country  ceded  by  the  treaty.  He  also  says,  that  council  after 
council  was  held  in  the  Indian  villages,  to  ascertain  what  was 
the  intention  of  the  Americans  in  building  at  that  place,  and 
liaving  learned  that  the  soldiers  had  great  guns  with  them,  he 
jtnd  a  number  of  his  people  went  down  the  river  to  see  what  was 
doing,  and  they  found  the  whites  were  building  a  fort.  The  chiefs 
held  a  council  with  the  officers  of  the  party,  which  Black  Hawk 
did  not  attend;  but  he  says,  "  he  understood  that  the  Americans 
war  chief  had  said,  they  were  building  houses  for  a  trader  who 
was  coming  there  to  live,  and  would  sell  the  Indians  goods  very 
<;heap,  and  that  the  soldiers  were  to  remain  to  keep  him  company.** 
The  Indians  were  pleased  at  this  im.formation,  but  doubted  its 
truth,  and  were  anxious  that  the  building  should  be  discontinued, 
and  that  the  soldiers  should  descend  the  river  again.  Many 
more  Indians  arrived,  the  whites  became  alarmed,  and  an  attempt 
was  made  by  a  dancing  party  of  the  Indians  to  enter  the  fort  by 
stratagem,  but  it  was  frustrated;  and  Black  Hawk  acknowledges 
that  if  it  had  been  successful,  and  the  Indians  had  got  into  the 
fort,  all  the  whites  would  have  b^en  killed,  as  the  British  soldiers 
had  been,  at  Mackinaw,  many  years  before. 

The  Indians  returned  to  Rock  Island,  and  the  fort  party  re- 
ceived a  reinforcement  from  St.  Louis. 

Black  Hawk  proceeds  with  the  following  relation: — "Soon 
after  our  return  from  Fort  Madison,  runners  came  to  our  village 
from  the  Shawnee  Prophet,  (while  others  were  dispatched  by  him 
to  the  villages  of  the  Winnebagoes,)  with  invitations  for  us  to 
meet  him  on  the  Wabash.  Accordingly  a  party  went  from  each 
*^illao«. 


208  Black  Hawlc's  Narration. 

■  "  All  of  our  party  returned,  among  whom  came  a  Prophet,  wlio 
explained  to  us  the  bad  treatment  the  ditferent  nations  of  Indians 
had  received  from  the  Americans,  by  giving  tliem  a  few  presents, 
and  taking  their  land  from  them.  I  remember  well  his  saying, 
*  If  you  do  not  join  your  friends  on  the  Wabash,  the  Americans 
will  take  this  very  village  from  you'.  I  little  thought  then  that 
his  words  would  come  true.  We  agreed  not  to  join  him,  and  he 
retui-ned  to  the  Wabash,  where  a  pai-fy  of  Winnebagoes  had  ar- 
rived, and  prejmrations  were  making  for  war;  a  battle  soon  after 
ensued,  in  which  several  Winnebagoes  were  killed.  As  soon  as 
their  nation  heard  of  this,  they  started  war  parties  in  diflerent 
directions:  one  to  the  mining  country,  one  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
and  another  to  Fort  Madison.  This  last  returned  by  our  village, 
and  exhibited  several  scaps  which  they  had  taken.  Their  success 
induced  several  other  parties  to  go  against  the  fort.  We  arrived 
in  the  vicinity  during  the  night.  The  spies  that  we  had  sent  out 
several  days  before,  to  watch  the  movements  of  those  at  the  gar- 
rison, gave  the  following  information:  'that  a  keel-boat  had  ar- 
rived from  below,  that  evening,  with  seventeen  men;  that  there 
were  about  fifty  men  in  the  fort,  and  that  they  marched  out 
every  morning  at  sunrise,  to  exercise.' " 

Black  Hawk  then  relates  his  stratagems  to  distroy  the  soldiers 
when  they  came  out,  and  for  the  Indians  to  rush  into  the  fort: 
they  were  unsuccessful:  three  whites  were  killed — the  Indians 
besieged  the  fort  for  three  days,  during  which  time  an  attempt 
was  made  to  set  fire  to  it,  by  means  of  arrows.  It  succeeded  sa 
far  as  to  fire  the  buildings  several  times,  without  ejffect,  as  the 
fire  was  soon  extinguished.  Theammunition  of  the  Indians  being 
expended,  and  finding  they  could  not  take  the  fort,  they  returned 
home,  having  had  one  Winnebago  killed,  and  one  wounded,  dur- 
ing the  siege. 

Soon  after  their  return,  news  reached  them  that  a  war  wa& 
going  to  take  place  between  the  British  and  Americans.  Run- 
Tiora  continued  to  arrive  from  different  tribes,  all  confirming  the- 
report  oTthe  ^K|»ected  war.  The  Britifih  agent,  Colonel  Dickson,, 
was  holding  talks  with,  and  making  presents  to  the  different 
tribes.  Black  Hawk  says — "  I  had  not  made  up  my  mind 
whether  to  join  the  British,  or  remain  neutral."  But  he  soon 
afterwards  took  an  active  part  with  the  British,  having  been,  as 
he  alleges,  "forced  into  war  by  being  deceived."  His  own  ac- 
count of  the  causes  of  his  conduct  is  as  follows: — 

"  Several  of  the  chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
were  called  upon  to  go  to  Washington,  to  see  their  Great  Father. 
On  their  return  they  related  what  had  been  said  and  done. 
They  said  the  Great  leather  wished  them,  in  the  event  of  a  war 
taking  place  with  England,  not  to  interfere  on  either  side,  but  to 


Black  Hawk's  Narration.  2i»y 

remain  neutral.  He  did  not  Avant  our  lielp,  but  wished  us  to  hunt- 
and  support  our  families  and  live  in  peace.  He  said  that  British 
traders  would  not  be  permitted  to  come  on  the  Mississippi  to- 
furnish  us  with  goods,  but  we  should  be  well  sup])lied  by  an 
American  trader.  Our  chiefs  then  told  him  that  the  Eritish 
traders  always  gave  us  credits  in  the  fall  foi-  guns,  powder,  and 
goods,  to  enable  us  to  hunt  and  clothe  our  families.  He  replied^ 
that  the  trader  at  Fort  Madison*  would  have  plentj-  of  goods; 
that  we  should  go  there  in  the  fall,  and  he  would  supply  us  on 
credit,  as  the  British  traders  had  done.  The  party  gave  a  good 
account  of  what  they  had  seen,  and  the  kind  treatment  they 
received. 

"This  information  pleased  us  all  very  much.  "We  all  agreed 
to  follow  our  Great  Father's  advice,  and  not  interfere  with  the 
war.  In  a  short  time  we  were  ready  to  start  to  Fort  Madison  to 
get  our  supply  of  goods,  that  we  might  proceed  to  our  hunting 
grounds.  We  passed  merrily  down  tlie  river,  all  in  high  spirits. 
I  had  determined  to  spend  the  winter  at  my  old  favorite  hunt- 
ing ground  on  Skunk  River,  and  left  part  of  my  corn  and  mats 
at  its  mouth,  to  take  up  when  I  returned;  others  did  the  same. 
Next  morning  we  arrived  at  the  fort  and  made  our  encampment. 
Myself  and  principal  men  paid  a  visit  to  the  war-chief,  at  the 
fort.  He  received  us  kindly  and  gave  us  some  tobacco,  pipes, 
and  provisions.  The  trader  came  in,  and  we  all  rose  and  shook 
hands  with  him,  for  on  him  all  our  dependence  was  placed,  to 
enable  us  to  hunt  and  thereby  support  our  families.  We  waited 
a  longtime,  expecting  the  trader  would  tell  us  that  he  had  orders 
from  our  Great  Father  to  supply  us  with  goods;  but  he  said 
nothing  on  the  subject.  I  got  up,  and  told  him  in  a  short  speech, 
what  we  had  come  for,  and  hoped  he  had  plenty  of  goods  to 
supply  uSj  and  told  him  he  should  be  well  paid  in  the  spring; 
and  concluded  by  informing  him  that  we  had  determined  to  fol- 
low our  Great  Father's  advice,  and  not  go  to  war. 

"  He  said  he  was  happy  to  hear  -,that  we  intended  to  remain  at 
peace.  That  he  had  a  large  quantity  of  goods;  and  that  if  we 
made  a  good  hunt,  we  should  be  well  supplied;  but  remarked! 
that  he  had  recieved  no  instructions  to  furnish  us  anything  on 
credit — nor  could  he  give  us  any,  without  receiving  the  pay  few 
them  on  the  spot. 

"  We  informed  him  what  our  Great  Father  had  told  our  chiefgk 
at  Washington,  and  contended  that  he  could  supply  uj  if  he 
would,  believing  that  our  Great  Father  always  spoke  the  truth . 
But  the  war-chief  said,  that  the  trader  could  not  furnish  us  on 
credit,  and  that  he  had  received  no  instructions  from  our  Great 

*  On  the  Mississippi,  in  the  Sac  and  Fox  country. 


300  Black  Haxrik's  Narration. 

Father  at  "Washington.  We  left  the  fort  dissatisfied,  and  went  to 
our  camp.  What  was  now  to  be  done  we  knew  not.  We  ques- 
tioned the  party  that  brought  us  the  news  from  our  Great  Father, 
that  we  should  get  credit  for  our  winter  supplies  at  this  place. 
They  still  told  the  same  story,  and  insisted  upon  its  truth.  Few 
of  us  slept  that  night;  all  was  gloom  and  discontent. 

"  In  the  morning  a  canoe  was  seen  ascending  the  river.  It 
fioon  arrived,  bearing  an  express,  wlio  brought  intelligence  that 
La  Gutrie,*  a  British  trader,  had  landed  at  Rock  Island  with  two 
boats  loaded  with  goods,  and  requested  us  to  come  up  immedi- 
ately, because  he  had  news  ""for  us,  and  a  variety  of  presents. 
The  express  presented  us  with  tobacco,  pipes,  and  wampum. 

"  The  news  ran  through  our  camp  like  lire  in  the  prairie,  Onr 
lodges  were  soon  taken  down,  and  all  started  for  Rock  Island. 
Here  ended  all  hopes  of  our  remaining  at  peace,  having  been 
forced  into  war  by  being  deceived. 

"  Our  party  were  not  long  in  getting  to  Rock  Island.  When 
we  came  in  sight  and  saw  tents  pitched,  we  yelled,  fired  our'guns, 
And  commenced  beating  our  drums.  Guns  were  immediately 
fired  at  the  Island,  returning  our  salute,  and  a  British  flag 
lioisted.  We  landed  and  were  cordially  received  by  La  Gutrie, 
:and  tlien  smoked  the  pipe  with  him.  After  which  he  made  a 
speech  to  ns,  that  had  been  sent  by  Colonel  Dickson,  and  gave  us 
A  number  of  handsome  presents,  a  large  silk  flag,  and  a  Iceg  of 
rum,  and  told  us  to  retire,  take  some  refreshments  and  rest  our- 
selves, as  he  would  have  more  to  say  to  us  on  the  next  day. 

"  We  according  retired  to  our  lodges,  which  had  been  put  up 
in  the  mean  time,  and  spent  the  night.  The  next  morning  we 
called  upon  him,  and  told  him  that  we  wanted  his  two  boats 
load  of  goods  to  divide  among  our  people,  for  which  he  should  be 
•well  paid  in  the  spring,  with  furs  and  peltries.  He  consented; 
told  us  to  take  them  and  do  as  we  pleased  with  them.  While 
•our  people  were  dividing  the  goods,  he  took  me  aside  and  informed 
me  that  Colonel  Dickson  was  at  Green  Bay  with  twelve  boats, 
loaded  with  goods,  guns,  and  ammunition,  and  wished  me  to 
raise  a  party  immediatey  and  go  to  him.  He  said  that  our  friend, 
the  ti'ader  at  Peoria,  was  collecting  the  Pottawatomies,  and  would 
be  there  before  us.  I  communicated  this  infonnation  to  my 
braves,  and*  a  party  of  two  hundred  warriors  were  soon  collected 
And  i-eady  to  depart.  On  our  arrival  at  Green  Bay  we  found  a 
large  encampment,  and  were  well  received  by  Colonel  Dickson 
and  the  war-chiefs  that  were  with  him.  He  gave  us  plenty  of 
provisions,  tobacco,  and  pipes,  and  said  he  would  hold  a  council 
with  us  the  next  day. 

^JjR  Gutrie,  or  La  Goterie,  was  an  InHian  trader  at  Portage  Hos  Sioux — a 
Canadian  Frer.chman,  probably  ofnix-il  bloml. 


Black  JIawk's  Narration.  301 

"  In  the  encampment  I  found  a  large  number  of  Pottawatomies, 
Kickapoos,  Ottawas,  and  Winnebagoes.  I  visited  all  their 
camps  and  found  them  in  liigh  s})irits.  They  had  all  received 
new  guns,  ammunition,  and  a  variety  of  clothing.  In  the  even- 
ing a  messenger  came  to  me,  to  visit  Colonel  Dickson.  I  went 
to  nis  tent,  in  which  there  were  two  other  war-chiefs,  and  an  in- 
terpreter. He  received  me  with  »  hearty  shake  of  the  hand,  and 
presented  me  to  the  other  chiefs,  who  shook  my  hand  cordially 
and  seemed  much  pleased  to  see  me.  After  I  was  seated.  Colonel 
Dickson  said,  '  General  Black  Ilawk,  I  sent  for  you  to  explain  to 
you  what  we  are  going  to  do,  and  the  reasons  that  have  brought 
us  here.  Our  friend  La  Gutrie  informs  us  in  the  letter  you 
brought  from  him,  what  has  lately  taken  place.  You  will  now 
have  to  hold  us  fast  by  the  hand.  Yonr  English  Father  has 
found  out  that  the  Americans  want  to  take  your  country  from 
you,  and  has  sent  me  and  his  braves  to  drive  them  back  to  their 
own  country.  He  has  likewise  sent  a  large  quantity  of  arras  and 
ammunition,  and  we  want  all  your  warriors  to  join  ns.' 

"  He  then  placed  a  medal  round  my  neck,  and  gave  me  a 
paper,*  (which  I  lost  in  the  late  war,f)  and  a  silk  flag  sa^'ing, 
'You  are  to  command  all  the  braves  that  will  leave  here  the 
day  after  to-morrow,  to  join  our  braves  near  Detroit."  I  told 
him  I  was  very  much  disappointed,  as  I  wanted  to  descend  the 
Mississij)pi,  and  make  war  upon  the  settlements,  lie  said  he 
had  been  ordered  to  lay  the  country  waste  around  St.  Louis; 
that  he  had  been  a  trader  on  the  Mississippi  many  years;  had 
always  been  kindly  treated,  and  could  not  consent  to  send  brave 
men  to  murder  women  and  children.  That  there  were  no 
soldiers  there  to  fight;  but  where  he  was  going  to  send  us,  there 
were  a  number  of  soldiers,  and  if  we  defeated  them,  the  Missis- 
sippi country  should  be  ours.  I  was  pleased  with  this  speech;  it 
was  spoken  by  a  brave. 

"  The  next  day,  arms  and  ammunition,  tomahawks,  knives,  and 
clothing,  were  given  to  my  band.  We  had  a  great  feast  in  the 
evening,  &nd  the  morning  following,  I  started  with  about  five 
hundred  braves  to  join  the  British  army.  The  British  war-chief 
accompanied  us.  We  passed  Chicago.  The  fort  had  been  evac- 
uated by  the  American  soldiers,  who  had  marched  for  Fort 
Wayne.  They  were  attacked  a  short  distance  from  that  fort  and 
defeated.%  They  had  a  considerable  quantity  of  powder  in  the 
fort  at  Chicago,  which  they  had  promised  to  the  Indians;  but  the 

*This  paper  was  found  at  the  battle  of  Bad  Axe — it  was  a  certificate  of  his  good 
behavior,  and  attachment  to  the  British. 
t  In  1832. 
%  Slaughtered,  being  defenceless. 


302  Black  Hawk's  Narration.  :        • 

night  before  they  marched  tliey  destroyed  it.  I  tliink  it  was 
thrown  into  the  well.  If  they  had  fultilled  their  word  to  the  In- 
dians, I  think  they  would  have  fjone  safe. 

"On  our  arrival  I  found  that  the  Indians  had  several  prisoners. 
I  advised  thera  to  treat  them  well.  We  continued  our  inarch  and 
joined  the  British  army  below  Detroit,  and  soon  after  had  a  fight. 
The  Americans  fought  well,  and  drove  us  with  considerable  loss. 
I  was  surprised  at  this,  as  I  had  been  told*  that  the  Americans 
conld  not  fight. 

"  Our  next  movement  was  against  a  fortified  place.  I  was 
stationed  with  my  braves  to  prevent  any  person  going  to  or 
coming  from  the  fort.  I  found  two  men  taking  care  of  cattle, 
and  took  them  prisoners,  I  would  not  kill  them,  but  delivered 
them  to  the  British  war-chief.  Soon  after,  several  boats  came 
down  the  river  full  of  American  soldiers.  They  landed  on  the 
opposite  side,  took  the  Britisii  batteries,  and  pursued  the  soldiers 
that  had  left  them.  They  went  too  far  without  knowing  the  for- 
ces of  the  British,  and  were  defeated.  I  hurried  across  "the  river, 
/anxious  for  ^n  opportunity  to  show  the  courage  of  my  braves; 
but  before  we  reached  the  ground  all  was  over.  The  British  had 
taken  many  prisoners,  and  the  Indians  were  killing  them.  I  im- 
mediately put  a  stop  to  it,  as  I  never  thought  it  brave,  but  cow- 
ardly, to  kill  an  unarmed  and  helpless  enemy .f 

"  We  remained  here  some  time.  I  cannot  detail  what  took 
place,  as  I  was  stationed  with  my  braves  in  the  woods.  It  ap- 
peared, however,  that  the  British  could  not  take  this  fort,:}:  for 
we  were  marched  to  another,  soriie  distance  off".  When  we  ap- 
proached it,  I  found  it  a  small  stockade,  |  and  concluded  that 
there  were  not  many  men  in  it.  The  British  war-chief  sent  a 
fliag;  Colonel  Dick8on§  carried  it  and  returned.  He  said  a  young 
war-chief^  commanded,  and  would  not  give  up  without  fighting. 
Dickson  came  to  me  and  said,  '  You  will  see  to-morrow  how 
•  easily  we  will  take  that  fort.'  I  was  of  opinion  that  they  would 
takeit;  but  when  the  morning  came  I  was  disappointed.  The 
British  advanced,  commenced  an  attack,  and  fought  like  braves; 
but  by  braves  in  the  fort  were  defeated,  and  a  great  number  killed. 
The  British  array  w«ire  making  preparations  to  retreat.  I  was 
now  tired  of  being  with  them,  our  success  being  bad,  and  having 
got  no  plunder.     1  determined  on  leaving  them  and  returning  to 

*  By  the  British. 

t  General  Proctor  commanded  the  British — his  brutal  conduct  is  well  known 
-in  history. 
:f  Fort  Meigs. 
I  Fort  Stephenson. 

§  He  is  mistaken  in  the  name — Chambers  and  Mason  carried  the  flag.^ 
\  Lieutenant  Croghan. 


..  Black  IlawVs  Narration.  303 

Kuck  Island,  to  see  what  had  become  of  my  wife  and  ch'ldren,  as 
I  had  not  heard  from  them  since  I  started.  That  nisjlit  I  took 
;iliont  twenty  of  my  braves  and  left  the  British  camp  for  home. 
AVe  met  no  person  on  our  journey  until  we  reached  the  Illinois 

Kiver."^         ..-.". 

The  fore;j^oing  piece  of  history  from  Black  Hawk,  is  certified 
to  by  Antoine  L.  Claire.  United  States  interpreter,  dated  at  the 
Indian  Agency,  Rock  Island,  Oct.  16th,  1832,  as  copied  from 
.Smith's  Documentary  History  of  Wisconsin,  Vol.  III.  The  re- 
maining part  of  his  statement  refers  to  the  Sac  war  of  1832,  and 
will  be  noticed  in  its  proper  place. 

The  appearance  of  the  British  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and 
tlieir  threatened  invasion  of  Southern  Illinois,  is  verified  bv  Black 
Hawk's  statement,  and  without  doubt,  the  fear  of  such  a  calamity 
was  the  chief  incentive  to  Governor  Edward's  attack  on  Peoria, 
and  the  Indian  towns  adjacent.  At  that  time  the  British  had 
received  no  check  in  their  victorious  career,  Michigan  and  Wiscon- 
sin both  being  in  their  possession,  while  the  Indian  tribes  of  the 
country  were  largely  inclined  to  join  their  fortunes  with  them,  as 
the  best  means  by  which  to  preserve  their  hunting  grounds  from 
the  greed  of  their  white  neighbors.  That  Illinois  was  spared  such 
an  invasion,  was  due  to  the  activity  with  which  the  Americans 
were  at  the  same  time  pushing  the  campaign  against  Detroit, 
under  General  Harrison,  to  oppose  whoni  all  tlie  British  forces 
and  their  Indian  allies  finally  proved  insufficient.* 

The  war  soon  began  to  rage  on  the  ^Niagara  border,  as  well  as 
along  the  Detroit,  and  the  death  of  General  Brock,  who  was  slain 
in  battle  here,  was  the  severest  blow  the  British  had  yet  received. 
General  Proctor,  who  was  opposed  to  General  Harrison  in  the 
famous  campaign  of  1813,  was  deficient  in  those  high  and  sol- 
dierly qualities  which  distinguished  General  Brock,  who  had 
done  so  much  honor  to  English  arms  in  the  campaign  of  1812, 
which  had  terminated  in  the  surrender  of  General  Hull.  The  tide 
^was  now  turning,  as  will  be  seen  in  succeeding  pages. 

•See  Reynolds*  Hist,  of  his  own  times,  p.  130. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

General  Harrison  Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  North- 
western Army — Ten  Thousand  Men  Raised,  to  Reclaim  De- 
troit and  Invade  Canada — A  Wilderness  of  Mud  InterponD^ 
between  the  Combatants — General  Winchester  Reaches  the 
Rapids  of  the  Maumee — Advances  to  Frenehtown^  on  the 
River  Raisin — Battle  of  the  River  Raisin,  Ending  in  De- 
feat, Capitulation  and  Treacherous  Slaughter  of  War  Pris- 
oners— Fort  Meigs  Built  at  the  Rapids — General  Proctor 
Advances  Against  the  Place — Desperate  Attack  and  S-uccess- 
ful  Defense  of  the  Post — The  British  Retreat  and  Attach 
Ft.  Stephenson — The  Masked  Six-pounder  and  its  Fatal 
Fleets — Rout  of  the  British — The  War  Transferred  to  Can- 
ada— The  American  War  Fleet  Sails  from  Erie —  The  Naval 
Battle — The  American  Army  in  Canada — Battle  of  the 
Thames — Tecumseh  Slain — Michigan  Reclaimed — Peace. 

The  last  campaign  was  now  at  hand,  which  was  substantially 
to  complete  the  conquest  of  the  Northwest,  from  the  Indians, 
who  up  to  this  time  had  not  entirely  relinquished  the  hope  that 
they  could  establish  a  permanent  boundary  between  themselves 
and  the  whites,  which  should  stop  farther  eneroat  iments  on  their 
teri'itory.  This  had  been  the  early  hope  of  Tecumseh,  in  which 
fatal  dream  he  was  at  least  not  disheartened  iu  his  conlidential 
councils  with  the  British.  In  him  was  centered  the  last  hopes 
of  the  Indians,  and  ht  may  be  set  down  as  the  last  of  that  illus- 
trious line  of  chiefs  whose  eloquence  and  coramandins^  j)0\ver,  and 
inflexible  resolution  have  challenged  admiration,  not  only  from 
the  world,  but  from  tlie  foes  against  wlioin  they  fought.  Un- 
der him  the  red  man  was  still  powerful,  tlioiiii:!i  tainted  with  the 
vices  of  civilizHtion,  without  i)eing  elovated  by  its  virtues. 

On  the  part  of  the  white  settlers  ill  eyes  were  turned  towards 
General  Harrison,  whose  star  had  risen  the  year  before  on  the 
field  of  Tippecanoe,  and  under  pressure  <»f  an  intelligent,  popu- 
lar will  he  was  .appointed  commaijder-in-chief  of  the  North- 
western army,  on  the  17th  of  September. 

This  news  reached  him  on  the  ii4th,  while  at  Piqua,  on  his  way 
to  relieve  Ft.  Wayne,  at  the  head  of  2,000  Kentucky  volunteers, 
as  told  in  the  foregoing  chapter.  At  his  disposal  were  placed 
10,000  men,  composed  of  volunteers  from  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,. 


Advance  to  The  Maum^e  liapids.  305 

Kentucl<v,  Ohio  and  Indiana,  ton^etlier  with  a  regiment  from  the 
regular  army.  The  full  quota  had  been  raised,  and  in  Kentucky 
tlie  backwoods  men,  brimming  uver  with  ])ati'ioti8ni,  came  for- 
ward in  such  numbers,  that  many,  had  to  be  refused  admittance 
into  the  service  after  the  ranks  were  full.  The  in-tructions  to 
(Jeneral  Harrison,  were  lirst  to  provide  protection  to  the  frontier, 
after  which  Detroit  was  to  be  taken.  ^lichigain  reclaimed  from 
British  rule,  and  lastly  Canada  was  to  he  invaded.  This  was  an 
undertaking  of  no  small  magnitude:  but  western  blood  was  up, 
and  nothing  short  of  its  fultillment  would  satisfy  the  frontierers. 
The  only  posts  the  Americans  held  on  the  entire  chain  of  the 
lakes,  were  Butialo,  Erie,  Cleveland  an«i  Sandusky,  any  one  of 
which  were  ever  liable  to  a  hostile  visitation  from  the  English 
fleet  on  the  lakes.  The  volunteej-s  were  imj)atient  to  come  to 
battle  with  the  British,  but  ere  this  c<mld  be  brought  about,  a 
broad  wilderness  had  to  be  traversed,  Avhuse  sjiongy  .-oil  was  an 
almost  bottomless  pool  of  mud  in  the  low  groumJs,  and  whose 
unbridged  streams  with  their  alluvial  margins,  were  a  treacherous 
])ath  for  the  ponderous  machinery  of  war.  To  overcome  these 
obstacles,  Harrison  immediately  set  himself  to  work.  The  Kapids 
of  the  Maumee  was  the  strategic  point  to  be  nnule  the  base  of 
his  movements,  and  he  gave  ordeis  to  the  dillrrent  army  corps  to 
jiroceed  to  this  ])lace.  Of  these  there  were  tbiee  detatchments, 
one  to  march  by  the  way  of  Upper  Sandusky,  another  by  Urbana 
and  a  third  by  the  way  of  the  Auglai;:e  river.  P^ach  of  these 
divisions  had  struggled  through  tlu'  oozy  savannas  with  which  the 
forest  abounded,  as  fast  as  their  zeal  ami  muscle  could  c;irry  them, 
but  so  slow  was  their  progress  that  it  was  not  till  the  10th  of 
January,  1818,  that  the  Bapids  were  ]«'ached  by  the  Adrance 
corps,  led  by  General  Windiest  "^r,  while  General  Harrison  him- 
self was  ptill  at  Upper  Sandusky,  with  the  right  wing  of  the  army, 
and  General  Tupper,of  whom  McAfee,  the  cotemporary  historian, 
speaks  very  dih])aragingly,  was  at  Ft.  McArther  with  the  Centre. 
The  following  is  coj)ied  from  Dawson's  Life  of  Harrison: 

"Tlic  roads  were  bad  lieyond  description;  none  bnt  those  who  have  actually 
seen  the  state  of  the  country,  seem  ever  to  liave  formed  a  coi-recfc  estimalt^  ot  tlie 
difficulties  to  be  encountered.  Theroadfroni  liOramie's  blockhouse  to  St.  Mary's, 
and  thence  to  Defiance,  was  ono  continuous  swamp,  knee-deep  on  the  pack- 
horses,  and  up  to  the  hul)s  of  the  wajfon.  It  wa«  found  impossible  in  some 
iri.stances  to  get  even  the  empty  wajjons  alon>f.  and  many  were  left  in  the  mire, 
the  wajfoners  beinir  L'lad  to  j?et  off  Avith  tiie  horses  alive.  Sometimes  the  quar- 
termJister,  takinp  advantajire  of  a  temporary  frei'ze,  would  send  off  a  convoy, 
which  would  be  swamped  by  a  thaw  ere  it  reached  its  destination.  Thise 
natural  difficulties  were  also  increased  by  a  g-rfat  deficiency  of  funds  and  inade- 
quacy of  the  other  resources  which  were  reouisite  in  the  quarternuister's  de[)art- 
nient.  The  only  persons  who  could  be  procured  to  act  as  pack-horse  drivers, 
were  generally  the  most  worthless  creatures  in  society,  who  took  care  n(»ither  of 
che  horses  nor  tlie  goods  with  wliich  they  were  entrusted.    The  horses  were  of 


306  Battle  of  The  River  Raisin. 

course  soon  broken  down,  and  many  of  f  lii>  packs  lost.  The  teams  hired  to  haal 
were  also  commonly  valued  so  higrh  on  cominij  into  the  sei"vice,  that  the  owners 
were  willintj-  to  drive  them  to  death  with  a  view  to  jret  the  price.  In  addition 
to  thi>',  no  bills  of  lading'  were  \ised  or  accounts  kept  with  the  wagoners.  Of 
course  each  one  had  an  opportunity  to  plunder  the  public  without  much  risk  of 
det^'ction." 

Shortly  after  tiie  arrival  of  General  Winchester  at  the  Rapids, 
messengers  came  to  liini  from  Frenchtown  on  tlie  Kiver  liaisin, 
imploring  his  protection  from  the  British  and  Indians,  who  had 
taken  possession  of  the  place  soon  after  the  surrender  of  General 
Hull,  at  Detroit. 

The  recjuost  'Aas  granted,  aiuL  on  the  17th,  550  men  were  sent 
on  this  mission  nnder  command  of  Colonel  Lewis,  supported  hv 
110  more  under  command  of  Colonel  Allen.  They  reached  the 
place  the  next  day,  attacked  the  British  and  drove  them  out. 
As  soon  afterwards  appeared,  this  advance  was  hazardous  in  the 
extreme,  IMalden,  the  headquarters  of  General  Proctor,  who  had 
recently  been  appointed  as  commander  of  the  British  troo})s, 
being  only  eighteen  miles  distant,  from  which  place  a  superior 
force  could  be  brought  against  the  post  in  a  few  hours.  Not- 
withstanding this.  General  Winchester  unwisely  determined  to 
maintain  tho  jiosition,  and  reinforced  the  place  witli  250  more 
men  from  the  Kapids,  accompfinying  them  in  person.  As  might 
be  sup])Osed,  the  Bi-itish  were  no  idle  sjjectators  of  the  situation, 
a'nd  stealthily  marched  against  the  place  on  the  night  of  the  21st 
with  a  heavy  force.  The  next  morning  General  Winchester 
beheld  with  surprise,  the  batteries  of  the  enen)y,  erected  within 
commanding  distance  of  his  camp. 

An  obstinate  battle  immediately  ensued,  which  is  best  described 
by  Dawson,  in  his  Life  of  Harrison,  as  follows:  "The  American 
army  in  this  affiair  lost  upwards  of  290  in  killed,  massacred  and 
missing.  Only  33  escaped  to  the  Kapids.  The  British  took 
54:7  jirisoners,  and  the  Indians  about  45.  Tiie  loss  of  tlie enemy, 
as  the  Americans  had  no  chance  to  ascertain,  it  was  of  course 
never  known  to  the  public.  From  the  best  information  that 
could  be  obtained,  it  is  believed  to  have  been  in  killed  and 
wounded,  between  three  and  four  hundred.  The  Indians  suf- 
fered greatly,  and  the  41st  regiment  was  very  ranch  cut  up.* 
Their  whole  force  in  battle  was  about  2000 — one-half  regulars 
and  Canadians,  commanded  by  Cols.  Proctor  and  St.  George; 
the  other  composed  of  Indians,  commanded  by  Round  Head  and 
Walk  in  the-Water — Tecnmsch  was  not  there;  he  was  still  on 
the  Wabash  collecting  the  warriors  in  that  quarter."  The  pris- 
oners   were    transported    to   Amherstburg,    where    they   were 

♦Tho  large  number  of  Americans  killed  was  the  result  of  the  mercile8i 
Blaii^htx^r  by  the  Indians  immediately  after  some  retreatixnf  fragments  of  the 
nimy  had  Burrendered  to  theui. 


American  Prieoners  Paroled.  3o7 

crowded  into  a  muddy  woodyard  without  shelter.  A  heavy 
rain  fell  upon  tlieni  the  succeeding  night,  which  greatly  in- 
creased their  suti'ering  in  that  inclement  season,  especially  as 
tliey  were  tliiidy  clad  and  without  blankets.  Here  tliey  re- 
mained till  the  26th,  when  they  were  marched,  in  two  divisions, 
tlirougli  Upper  Canada  to  Ft.  George,  on  the  Niagara,  where 
they  were  paroled  and  returned  liome  by  the  way  of  Erie  and 
Pittsburg,  and  tlience  down  the  Ohio  river.  The  conditions  of 
their  parole  w^ere,  that  they  not  to  bear  arms  against  his  majes- 
tv  or  his  alliefi  during  the  present  war  until  exclianged.  On  the 
reception  of  these  terms,  some  of  the  inquisitive  Jventuckians 
asked  who  were  his  majesty's  allies.  The  question  w^as  designed 
as  a  rebuke  to  the  Britisli,  for  accepting  an  alliance  with  the 
Indians.  The  reply  was,  that  "His  raajestie's  allies  were  well 
known."*  Besides  the  prisoners  thus  paroled,  were  the  45  taken 
by  the  Indians,  a  few  of  whom  were  massacred,  but  most  of  them 
held  for  ransom,  at  Detroit.f 

Soon  after  this.  General  Proctor  issued  a  proclamation,  requir- 
ing the  citizens  of  Michigan  to  take  the  oath  of  alliegaiice  to  his 
majesty,  or  leave  the  state.:}: 

As  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  after  the  massacre  at  Chicago, 
the  Kinzie  family  were  sent  to  Detroit,  where  they  were  living  as 

f)aroled  prisoners  at  the  time  of  the   river   Kaisin  horror.     The 
louse  occupied  by  them  was  their  old  mansion,  on  the  corner  of 
Jefferson  and  Wayne  streets.  § 

*  Dawson's  life  of  Harrison,  p.  357. 

t Dawson;  Wabun. 

X  Apainst  this,  Judge  Woodard,  of  Dotroit.  remonstrated,  averringr  that  it 
■was  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations.  'J'hat  a  subject  cannot  transfer  his  alle- 
{riance  in  time  of  war,  without  incuning  the  penalty  of  treason. 

tj  "  It  had  been  a  stipulation  of  Gen.  Hull  at  the  sun-ender  of  Detroit,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  that  place  should  be  pemntti'd  to  remain  undisturbed  in  their 
liODies.  Accordingly  the  family  of  Mr.  Kinzie  took  up  their  quarters  with  their 
friends,  in  tin;  old  mansion,  which  many  will  recollect  as  standing  on  the  nprth- 
east  corner  of  Jefferson  avenue  and  Wayne  street. 

TLe  feelings  of  indignation  and  sympathy  were  constantly  aroused  in  tlio 
hearts  of  the  citizens,  during  the  winter  that  ensued.  They  \yere  almost  daily 
call<!d  upon  to  witness  the  truelties  practiced  upon  the  American  prisoners 
brought  in  by  their  Indian  captors.  Those  who  could  scarcely  drag  their 
woinulcd,  bleeding  feet  ever  the  frozen  ground,  were  compelled  to  dance  for  the 
aimisement  of  the  savages,  and  these  exhibitions  sometimes  took  place  before  the 
government  House,  the  residence  of  Col.  McKee.  Some  of  the  British  officers 
looked  on  from  their  windows,  at  these  heart-rending  performances ;  fop  the 
honor  ot  humanity,  we  will  hope  such  instances  were  rare. 

FiVery  thing  tliat  could  be  made  available  among  the  effects  of  the  citizens 
were  oifered,  to  ransom  their  counliymen  from  the  hands  of  these  inhutman 
beings.  The  prisoners  brought  in  from  the  Ihver  Raisin — those  untortulnate 
men  who  were  permitted,  alter  their  snrn^nder  tx)  Gen.  Procter,  to  be  tortured 
and  murdered  by  inches,  by  his  savasje  allies,  excited  the  sympathies  and  ct^Ued 
tur  the  action  of  the  whole  community.    I'rivate  houses  were  turned  into  hospi- 


308  Fort  Meigs  Built. 

The  calamitous  result  of  this  affair,  well  nigh  frustrated  the 
plan  of  General  Harrison  to  maintain  his  position  at  tlu.  Rapids,, 
and  on  his  arrival  at  the  place  the  next  day  after  the  hattle.  its 
few  survivors  came  in  with  such  alarming  news,  that  lie,  after 
holding  a  council  of  war,  thought  it  prudent  to  retreat  as  far  a< 
Portage  river,  which  he  did  the  day  following,  after  destroying 
the  provisions  and  burning  the  block  house.  Here,  being  re-in- 
forced  on  the  1st  of  February,  he  again  advanced  to  the  ila])ids. 
jind  determined  to  make  a  stand  against  the  audacious  enemy. 

A  fort  was  built,  which  was  named  Fort  Meigs,  in  honor  of  tlse 
governor  of  Ohio.  It  was  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  theMau- 
mee,  opposite  the  battle  ground  where  General  AVayne,  oightoen 
years  before,  had  overwhelmed  the  Indians  with  defeat  under  the 
verv  guns  of  the  Ensflish,  who  at  that  time  had  a  fort  on  this  his- 
toric  ground,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  just  below  the  present 
site  of  Fort  Meigs.  Harrison  was  now  in  a  critical  position. 
Of  the  10,000  men  which  had  been  raised  for  his  service,  many 
were  lingerinii:  on  the  wav  under  the  duress  of  a  mud  blockade; 
some  were  posted  at  points  where  a  force  was  necessary  to  over- 
awe the  Indians,  aTul  not  a  few  had  been  wasted  with  the  malarious 
diseases  of  the  country,  whose  immense  valleys  had  not  vet  beeji 
disinfected  by  the  smoke  of  the  ])i(>neer.  The  British,  by  means 
of  their  vessels  on  the  lake,  could  quickly  bring  to  the  front  all 
the  supplies  they  wanted  for  the  cam])aign,  while  the  Americans 
had  to  transport  their  cam]>-snpplies  over  a  hundred  miles  of 
quagmire,  and  the  same  difHculties  that  had  l)eset  the  path  of 
General  Hull  "-  noAV  threatened  General  Harrison.     The  most  he 

tals,  and  evtny  one  was  forward  to  get  possession  of  as  many  as  possible  of  the 
survivors.  I'o  effect  tliis,  even  the  articles  of  their  ai)parel  were  bartered  by  ihi; 
ladies  of  Detroit,  as  tliey  watched  from  their  doors  ur  windows,  the  miserable 
victims  carried  about  for  sale. 

In  the  dwelling  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  one  large  room  M'iis  devoted  to  the  reception  ot 
the  sufierers.  Few  of  them  survived.  Among  those  spoken  of  as  objects  of  the 
deepest  interest,  were  two  young  gentlemen  of  Kentucky,  lirothers,  both  severe- 
ly wounded,  and  their  wounds  aggravated  to  a  mortal  degree,  by  subsequent 
ill-usage  and  hardships.  Their  solicitude  for  each  other,  and  their  exhibition 
in  various  ways  of  the  most  tender  fraternal  atfection,  created  an  impressini\ 
never  to  be  forgotten. 

The  last  bargain  made,  was  by  black  Jim;  and  one  of  the  children,  who  ha<l 
permission  to  redeem  a  negro  servant  of  the  gallant  Col.  Allen,  with  an  oltl 
white  horse,  the  only  available  article  that  remained  among  their  possessions 

A  brother  of  Col.  Allen,  afterwards  came  to  Detroit,  and  tlie  negro  preferrcil 

returning  to  servitude,  rather  than  remaining  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

Waubun,  p.  249. 

*  Says  General  Harrison  in  his  report  to  the  War  department,  a  few  wt'ckt^ 
previous  to  this  time :  "  If  there  wei-e  not  some  important  political  reason  urging 
the  recovery  of  Michigan  Territory  and  tho  capture  of  Maiden  as  soon  as  those 
objects  can  possibly  be  effected,  and  that  to  accomplish  them  a  few  weeks  sooner, 
expense  was  to  be  disregarded,  I  should  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  if  a  small  pro* 


Fort  Meigs  Besieged.  809 

ifould  hope  was  to  defend  Fort  Meigs  and  Sandusky  till  reinforced 
•with  sufficient  numbers  to  ]>ursue  the  original  plan  of  the 
<'anipaign  by  advancing  on  Detroit.  Well  knowing  that  General 
Proctor  was  better  prepared  to  take  the  offensive  than  hiniHclf, 
umiX  rightly  judging  that  he  would  do  so.  General  Harrison  made 
the  earth  defenses  of  Fort  Meigs  as  perfect  as  niilitary  skill  could 
aiiake  them,  and  awaited  his  approach.  The  winter  passed  with 
T)Ht  little  freezing  weather,  and  abonndlessi  sea  of  mud  interposed 
lietween  Fort  Meigs  and  its  expected  reinforcements,  till  General 
Pnjctor  and  Tecumseh  appeared  before  the  ])lace  with  3,000 
British  and  Indian  troops.  It  was  now  the  26th  of  April,  and 
-;m  active  summer  campaign  was  at  hand,  for  which  General 
Harrison  was  by  no  means  prejjared.  The  tenants  of  Fort  Meigs 
aiovv  beheld  the  enemy  planting  their  batteries  from  the  high 
bank  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  which,  were  soon  to  vomit 
lurth  a  tempest  of  hot  shot  and  shells  into  Fort  Meigs. 

While  these  preparations  were  being  made  on  the  part  of  the 
]>ritish,  their  red  allies  under  Tecumseh  crossed  over  the  river 
and  took  a  position  in  the  I'ear  of  the  fort  among  the  forest 
trees.  To  encourage  them.  General  Proctor  had  promised  an 
•easy  victory  over  the  Americans  to  Tecumseh.  It  was  said  with 
<loubtful  authority,  that  he  promised  to  deliver  to  Tecumseh  Gen- 
eral Harrison's  person,  as  war  prisoner,  as  soon  as  Ft.  Meigs  should 
'be  taken.  A  furious  fire  was  now  opened  upon  the  fort  from 
the  British  batteries  bv  davand  nijrht,  while  the  Indians  climbed 
the  tall  forest,  trees  and  kept  up  a  fire  of  small  arms  against  the 
garrison.  To  protect  themselves  from  the  bursting  shells  which 
-were  constantly  exploding  inside  of  the  fort,  the  soldiers  dug 
Hjurrows  in  the  ground  and  crept  into  them  when  a  shell  fell  near 
by,  remaining  till  it  had  exploded,  from  which  circumstance  the 
Indians  said  thev  fou<rht  like  grt)»ind  hogs.  Dav  after  day  the 
attack  was  kept  up  with  unremitting  fury,  the  fire  of  the  defend- 
ers all  the  while  responding. 

On  the  ;')d  of  May,  after  three  days  of  unusually  heavy  firing, 
General  Proctor  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  General  Harrison,  demand- 
ing the  surreiuh'r  (»f  the  place.  Major  Chambers  was  its  bearer, 
and  when  introduced  to  General  Harrison,  the  following  wordij 
]»assed  between  them: 

Major  Chambkuh: — Gonpni'  Proctor  has  directed  me  to  demand  the  sur- 
ri-ndcr  of  i\\\<  post.    He  wislios  to  spare  the  effusion  of  blood. 
<iK\KR.\i,  Hauiuson: — Tlie  demand  under  the  present  cirtumstiuices  is  a  moat 

5>ni+ion  of  the  Bums  which  will  he  expended  in  the  quarter-master's  department 
111  the  active,  prosecution  of  the  campaign   dnriiifr  the  winter  was   devoted  to 

•obtuininff  the  connnand  of  Luke  Kric,  the  wishes  of  the  >;overnnie!it  in  their 
utmost  extent,  could  be  ac(Ouii>lislu'd  without  ditticulty,"  in  the  months  of  April 

;:^d  May.    Dawson,  p.  \>S-\. 


310  Exploit  of  Oliver,  The  Daring  Scout. 

extraordinary  one.  As  General  Proctor  did  not  send  me  a  summons  to  suvrondt^r 
on  his  first  arrival,  I  had  supposed  that  he  believed  me  determined  to  do  my 
duty.  His  present  message  indicates  an  opinion  of  me  that  I  am  at  a  loss  to- 
account  for. 

Major  Chambers: — General  Proctor  could  never  think  of  saying  anything- 
to  wound  your  feelings,  sir.  The  character  of  General  Harrison  as  an  officer, 
■  is  well  known.  General  Proctor's  force  is  very  respectable,  and  there  is  with 
him  a  larger  body  of  Indians  than  has  ever  before  been  embodied. 

General  Harrison: — I  believe  I  have  a  correct  idea  of  General  Proctor's 
force;  it  is  not  such  as  to  create  the  least  a;  prehension  for  the  result  of  the  con- 
test, whatever  shape  he  maybe  pleased  hereafter  to  give  to  it.  Assure  tlio 
General,  however,  that  he  will  never  have  this  post  surrendered  to  him  upou 
any  terms.  Should  it  fall  into  his  hands,  it  will  be  in  a  manner  calculu*ed  to 
do  him  more  honor  and  to  give  him  larger  claims  upon  the  gratitude  of  his  j^ov- 
ernraent,  than  any  capitulation  could  possibly  do. 

The  messenger  then  returned  to  the  British  tamp,  and  the  attack  began  again, 
with  increased  fury. 

At  the  opening  of  the  siege,  General  Harrison  had  sent  mes- 
sengers for  the  purpose  of  hurrying  forward  reinforcements,  and 
in  response  to  them,  General  Green  Clay  at  tlie  liead  of  1,2<^0' 
Kentucky  and  Ohio  volunteers,  were  now  within  three  hours 
march  of  Ft.  Meigs  on  the  banks  of  the  Maumee,  just  above  the- 
liapids;  but  the  danger  of  an  ambuscade  was  so  imniinent,  that 
he  durst  not  advance  another  step  till  he  had  communicated  with, 
General  Harrison,  Who  dared  undertake  such  a  dansferous  mis- 
sion?  The  first  man  who  volunteered  to  do  this,  was  Captain 
Leslie  Combs,  of  Kentucky.  At  the  head  of  a  tew  picked  men- 
he  crept  within  a  mile  of  the  fort,  when  he  was  discovered  by  the- 
■enemy,  and  nearly  all  his  party  w^ere  killed,  Combs  himself  nar- 
rowly escaping  the  fate  of  his  daring  companies.  Fortunately 
Captain  William  Oliver  w^as  in  the  camp,  the  same  dashing  young 
'ranger  who  had  penetrated  through  the  Indian  lines  around  Fort 
W^ayne  a  few  months  before,  and  carried  a  message  to  its  defend- 
ers, that  Harrison  was  marching  to  their  relief;  and  now,  by  the 
changing  fortunes  of  war,  it  became  his  lot  to  take  a  message  to- 
General  Harrison,  that  relief  was  at  hand  for  him.  Fifteen  brave 
Ohioans  promptly  volunteered  to  follow  him  in  this  dangennis 
adventure.  Late  in  the  evening  on  the  4th,  they  seated  theni- 
Belves  in  their  boat  and  silently  rowed  down  the  Maumee,  till  the 
camp  tires  of  the  besiegers  were  visible,  when  the  party  landed 
and  crept  along  the  margin  of  the  river  towards  the  fort.  Inside- 
of  it  silence  and  darkness  reigned,  for  their  fires  had  been  extin- 
guished, lest  they  might  afford  direction  for  the  enemy's  shot. 
Tlie  sentinels  were  on  the  alert,  for  there  was  a  purpose  there 
brooding  over  the  situation  in  the  darkness  of  their  vengeful 
solitudes,  and  when  Oliver's  party  came  to  the  gate  they  were 
mistaken  for  the  enemy  about  to  make  an  assault,  and  were  fired 
upon;  fortunately  none  of  them  were  wounded,  and  they  soorj 
found  means  to  make  themselves  known,  and  entered  the  fort.^ 


Dashing  Sortie — Victory — Amhnscade.  311 

Oliver  immediately  going  to  the  quarters  of  General  Harrison. 
Now  the  whole  situation  was  changed.  The  beleaguered  gar- 
rison could  take  the  oifensive.  A  hardy  messenger,  (Captain 
Hamilton,  of  the  Ohio  volunteers),  was  immediately  dispatched  to 
General  Clay  Green,  to  advance  and  attack  the  British  batteries 
on  the  north  side  of  the  river  opposite  the  fort,  with  800  men, 
while  with  the  remaining  400  men  he  Avas  to  light  his  way 
tlirough  the  enemy's  lines  into  the  fort.  While  these  movements 
were  in  progress,  a  sortie  was  to  be  made  fi'om  the  fort  against 
the  British  batteries,  farther  up  the  river  on  the  south  side. 
Early  the  next  morninjj,  Clay  made  his  appearance  according  to 
orders,  and  suddenly  the  enemy  found  their  whole  line  of  batter- 
ies attacked  by  a  foe  w^hom  they  had  hitherto  beheld  with  con- 
tempt. Colonel  Miller  led  the  assault  on  the  South  side,  drove 
the  gunners  from  their  guns,  spiked  them  and  returned  to  the 
fort,  while  Colonel  Dudley,  from  Clay's  command,  attacked  the 
batteries  on  the  north  side.  They  were  also  taken,  but  unfoi*- 
tnnately  in  the  flush  of  victory,  the  dashing  Kentuckians  fol- 
lowed in  hot  pursuit  after  the  retreating  columns.  This  was 
contrary  to  the  orders  of  General  Harrison,  who  beheld  from 
the  fort  the  fatal  pursuit  with  deep  anguish.  The  pursuers  were 
led  into  an  ambuscade,  and  all  but  150  of  the  gallant  800  were 
killed  or  taken  prisoners.  The  Indians  kept  on  their  work  of 
slaughter  after  they  had  surrendered,  till  Tecumseh  interposed 
his  authority,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  fiendish  wurk.* 

The  results  of  the  day  were,  that  Ha}Tison  was  reinforcrd  by 
over  500  men,  notwithstanding  his  losses,  and  numy  of  the  be- 
sieger's guns  were  spiked.  Besides  these  advantages,  General 
Proctor  had  received  the  first  lesson  in  Yolunteer  practice,  which 
was  quite  suflicient  to  convince  him  that  Ft.  Meigs  could  not  be 
taken.  He  therefore  determined  to  retreat,  lest  he  might  be  at- 
tacked by  fresh  reinforcements.  Complete  preparations  for  this 
were  made  by  the  9th,  when  his  force,  consisting  of  600  regulars, 
800  Canadian  militia  and  1800  Indians,  suddenly  withdrew  down 
the  river,  giving  one  tremendeous  discharge  from  their  cannon, 
back  towards  the  fort  as  they  left.f  This  parting  salute  killed 
10  in  the  fort,  and  wounded  as  many  more,  said  one  of  the  offi- 
cers '•  we  were  glad  enough  to  see  them  oft',  on  any  terms."  Of 
tliis  whole  army  retreating  from  American  soil,  not  one  felt  the 
sting  so  bitterly  as  Tecumseh.  Little  did  he  then  think  he  should 
never  again  return.  His  unrelenting  courage,  however,  was  not 
shared  by  his  army  of  1800  Indians.     Not  that  tliey  lacked  the 

•Drake,  Howe's  Hist,  of  Ohio. 
tHowe'sHist.  Ohio,  p.  631. 


313  British  Change  of  Base. 

dashinaj  qualities  of  ^ood  soldiers,  but  the  ordinary  discipline  by 
whic'i  the  armies  of  civilized  nations  are  held  together,  are  want- 
ing in  an  Indian  army,  for  it  has  no  provision  against  desertion. 

If  the  meanest  soldier  gets  discouraged,  or  takes  a  honisick  tit 
to  return  to  his  lodge  and  see  his  squaw,  the  chief  has  no  other 
means  but  moral  suasion,  to  prevent  it  As  long  as  the  Indian 
sees  progress  and  a  hope  of  booty,  lie  w.^  cheerfully  endure  hun- 
ger and  other  discomfitures,  but  he  is  a  poor  dependence  for 
besieging'  well  defended  forts,  and  the  English,  much  to  theii 
chagrin,  found  this  to  be  the  case  before  the  war  was  over, 
although  it  was  to  them  they  owed  their  first  successes  at  its 
opening.  After  giving  up  the  siege  of  Ft.  Meigs,  General  Proc- 
tor and  Brigadier  General  Tecumseh  (to  give  him  his  title),  de- 
termined to  make  a  sudden  dash  against  some  vital  point  occu- 
pied by  the  Americans.  Of  such  points.  Upper  Sandusky,  where 
a  large  amount  of  provisions  and  other  military  stores  were  col- 
lected, and  Erie,  where  a  fleet  was  being  built,  were  by  far  the 
most  important.  Apprehensive  of  an  attack  on  Upper  Sandusky, 
General  Harrison  stationed  himself,  with  what  forces  he  could 
command,  at  Seneca,  which  laid  in  the  path  between  Sandusky 
bay  and  this  place,  as  by  means  of  his  scouts  he  had  ascertained 
that  tlie  enemy  were  massing  their  forces  in  this  direction. 

At  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Sandusky  river,  was  Ft.  Stephen- 
son, a  small  stockade  defended  by  less  than  200  men  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Orogan,  a  nephew  of  the  famous  General  George 
Rogers  Clark,  whose  timely  conquest  of  the  Illinois  country  in 
the  days  of  revolutionary  memory,  will  not  be  forgotten.  Fort 
Stephenson,  also  laid  in  the  path  of  the  enemy  on  their  way  to 
Upper  Sandusky,  the  vital  point  of  the  Americans.  Meantime, 
while  General  Proctor's  fleet  had  put  into  Sandusky  Bay,  and 
were  approaching  Ft.  Stevenson,  Tecumseh's  Indians  had  crossed 
the  country  by  a  hasty  march,  and  were  threatening  Upper  San- 
dusky. Under  these  circumstances,  instructions  were  sent  to 
Captain  Crogan  to  retire  from  Ft.  Stevenson,  if  he  could  do  so 
with  safety,  but  the  orders  did  not  come  in  time  to  aftect  the 
retreat  with  a  reasonable  hope  of  success,  and  he  determined  on 
defending  the  post. 

On  the  31st  of  July,  the  British  fleet  made  their  appearance 
before  tiie  place  con unanded  by  General  Proctor  himself,  his  force 
consistingof  500  regulars  and  as  many  Indians,  the  vigilant  Tecum- 
seh all  the  while  lying  back  with  his  army,  ready  to  intercept  any 
intended  reinforcements  to  the  place  from  Ft.  Meigs,  as  well  as  to 
co-operate  with  General  Proctor  in  adescent  on  Upper  Sandusky, 
as  soon  as  Ft.  Stephenson  should  fall  into  their  hands.  After 
the  usual  investmeut,  which  occupied  the  time  till  the  2ud  of 


Gallant  Defense  of  Fort  Steplwrison.  313 

Angnst,  General  Proctor  sent  a  summons  to  Captain  Crogan  to 
surrender.  This  he  promptly  refused  to  do,  and  when  admon- 
ished of  the  fate  which  awaited  them  from  the  vengeful  Indians, 
in  case  the  fort  had  to  be  taken  by  assault,  Mr.  Shipp,  with 
whom  the  messenger  conferred,  replied:  "There  will  none  of  us 
l>e  left  to  kill." 

The  messenger  now  retired  and  the  attack  began  by  a  heavy 
cannonading,  to  which  the  besieged  could  only  retort  with  a 
single  six-pounder. 

Little  execution  was  done  on  either  side  by  this  method,  and 
General  Proctor,  not  wishing  to  waste  his  time  by  the  slow  pro- 
cess of  a  siege  before  so  insignificant  a  post,  ordered  an  assault. 
Tliis  had  been  expected  by  Captain  ('rogan,  and  he  had  made 
ample  provision  for  it  by  masking  his  cannon  so  as  to  command 
the  ditch  where  the  attack  was  to  be  nuide.  The  piece  was 
loaded  with  a  double  charge  of  small  shot  and  destructive  mis- 
siles, ajid  but  half  a  charge  of  powder,  as  he  intended,  before  fir- 
ing it,  to  wait  till  the  attackers  were  close  enough  to  get  the  full 
iorce  of  the  contents,  which,  with  its  light  charge  of  powder, 
Avould  scatter  and  mow  down  all  the  larger  swath  of  men  when 
near  enough  to  receive  it  at  its  greatest  force. 

Unconscious  of  immediate  danger,  the  assailants  approached 
Avithin  30  feet  of  its  muzzle,  when  the  peice  was  unmasked  and 
tired  at  their  solid  phalanx  of  men,  who  were  advancing 
with  the  scaling  ladders  in  their  hands,  with  which  to  climb  the 
walls  of  the  fort.  Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  war,  was  the 
effect  of  a  single  cannon-shot  so  terrible;  more  than  50  men  fell, 
of  whom  above  half  never  rose  again.  An  instantaneous  dis- 
cliarge  of  small  arms  from  the  defenders  followed,  and  when  the 
pnioke  was  lifted  from  the  scene  of  slaughter,  the  immense 
army  of  besiegers  were  seen  flying  from  the  field,  while  150  of 
tlu'ir  number  were  left  dead  or  dying  behind.*  Crogan's  loss 
was  1  killtd  and  5  wounded.f  Proctors  hopes  of  penetrating  the 
country,  so  as  to  take  Upper  Sandusky,  thus  dashed  to  the  ground, 
lie  resolved  to  retreat,  and  so  apprehensive  was  he  that  Harrison 
would  attack  his  rear,  that  he  left  a  sloop-load  of  stores  behind,  as 

*The  bcslejrPtl  let  down  pails  ofv.ater  from  the  wall  of  the  fort,  for  the  relief 
of  the  woiiiulod,  iinmediat<?ly  after  the  assault  had  ceased. — Howe' s  History  of 
Ohio 

t  Black  Hawk  was  at  this  selge.  which  he  describes  in  his  statement,  already 
^ven  in  the  foregoing  pages,  thus:  "  Dickson  came  to  nie  and  said,  you  will  see 
to-moiTow.  how  easily  we  will  take  that  fort.  1  was  of  the  opinion  they  would 
take  it,  but  when  the  mornine  came  I  was  disappointed.  The  uritish  advanced, 
commenced  an  attack,  and  fought  like  braves,  but  by  braves  were  defeated,  and 
a  great  number  killed. 


314  British  Retreat  to  Canada 

his  vanquished  army  in  hot  liaste  crowded  sail  down  the  San- 
dusky river.* 

The  disappointed  Indians  baulked  of  their  prey,  vanislied  into 
the  forests,  wendin<^  tlieir  way  northwardly  towards  their  British 
attraction,  as  t]ie  needle,  turns  towards  the  pole.  While  this  ill- 
starred  expedition  of  Proctor's  had  been  in  progress,  another  one 
was  planned  against  Erie,  intended  to  destroy  the  American  fleet 
now  almost  ready  to  sail  from  the  place. 

This  was  entrusted  to  Captain  Barclay,  and  sailed  from  Maiden 
down  the  lake  on  the  18th  of  July.  After  reconnoitering  the 
American  defenses,  it  returned  without  making  tlie  attempt,  f 

On  to  Maiden,  again  became  the  watehwoi-d  thi'onghout  the 
northwest.  Ohio  proposed  to  raise  10,000  volunteers  for  tlie 
service,  and  Kentucky  was  not  less  zealous  in  the  cause,  but  tlie 
government  had  proposed  to  furnish  regulars  for  the  service,  and 
it  w^as  not  possible  to  accept  all  the  volunteers  who  felt  eager  to 
take  a  hand  in  the  invasion  of  Canada.     A  clamor  of  discontent 

•General  Hai-rison's  fame  now  stood  so  high,  especially  in  the  estimation  of 
the  friendly  Indians,  that  the  most  promineht  chiefs  amongf  the  Delawares  ami 
Senecas,  and  even  some  of  the  Shawaneese  chiefs,  offered  their  services  to  him. 
with  their  respective  braves.  Thej'  were  accepted  and  joined  his  army  at  Sene- 
ca, his  head-quarters  on  the  Portage  river;  but  among  the  Shawaneese  chiefs, 
one  named  Blue  Jacket  (not  the  one  of  the  same  name  wliose  high-bred  virtues 
had  made  him  conspicuous  in  bringing  about  the  peace  of  Greenville),  pe>haps 
under  an  impression  that  if  General  Harrison  could  be  killed  the  Indian  cause 
would  be  gained,  determined  on  a.ssassinating  him.  True  to  the  Indian  custom, 
he  confided  this  secret  resolution  to  his  best  friend,  and  begged  his  assistance  ia 
the  affair.  Such  assistance  his  friend  was  not  bound  to  give,  according  to  the^ 
mea.sure  of  Indian  honor,  but  he  was  bound  to  pre.ser\'e  the  secret.  Here  was  a 
dilemma.  He  loved  HaiTison,  not  only  for  his  charity  for  the  Indian  race,  but 
for  the  kindness  he  had  shown  him  from  his  early  youth,  ever  since  his  father 
had  been  executed  by  the  laws  of  his  tribe  for  the  crime  ot  sorcery.  Moreover, 
he  was  impressed  with  a  full  sense  of  the  bad  consequences  sure  to  result  to  his 
tribe  (the  Delawares),  should  the  intentions  of  Blue  Jackt^t  be  carried  out. 
While  thus  painfully  brooding  over  the  issue  a  few  days  latter,  the  would-be 
assassin  came  into  his  presence  in  a  towering  I'age.  Colonel  McPherson,  an 
officer  in  General  Harrison's  army,  had  just  turned  him  out  of  his  presence  for 
Bqpe  breacli  of  decency,  and  he  swore  vengeance  on  him  for  the  insults,  declar- 
ing he  would-kill  him  also.  This'ioused  the  indignation  of  the  young. chief,  tO' 
whom  the  murderous  intention  had  been  confided,  and  he  felled  him  to  the 
ground  with  a  single  blow  from  his  tomahawk,  and  despatched  him  with  a  sec- 
ond. He  next  ordere<l  his  dead  l)ody  sent  to  his  tribe,  and  bade  defiance  to- 
popular  resentment  for  the  act. 

Instead  of  pa-^sing  an  unfavorable  verdict  upon  the  hero,  he  was  applauded, 
and  two  years  later  General  Cass  maile  him  a  handsome i present  a.s  a  regard  for 
his  fidelity  to  General  Hamson.  The  name  of  this  chief  was  the  Beavei':  he  now 
became  a  great  favorite  with  General  Harrison,  and  later  with  (M)niniod(jre 
Ferry,  who  christened  him  The  Genei-al's  Mameluke. — Dausoiis  Life  of  llan-i- 
son,  p.  415. 

.  t  The  impossibility  of  his  larger  vessels  getting  over  the  bar,  might  have 
been  his  reason  for  relinquishing  the  attack  more  than  his  fear  of  the  American 
defenses. 


Gerteral  Hair-osons  Letter  to .  Governor  Meigs.       315- 

among  the  Oliio  militia  was  the  result,  aud  General  Harrison 
wrot  \  letter  to  Governor  Meigs  to  allay  it,  of  which  the  follow- 
in'/       t  part: 

exceptions  you  have  made,  and  the  promptitude  with 
whic  ;  your  orders  have  been  obeyed  to  assemble  the  militia  and 
rejiei  the  late  invasion,  is  truly  astonishing,  and  reflect  the  high- 
est honor  on  your  State.  *  *  *  It  has  been  the  intention  of 
the  government  to  form  the  army  destined  for  operation  on  Lake 
Erie,  exclusively  of  regular  truo]>s  if  they  could  be  raised.  The 
number  was  limited  to  7,000.  The  defi^^iency  of  regulars  was  to 
be  made  up  from  the  militia.  *  '^  I  have,  therefore,  called  on 
the  governor  of  Kentucky  for  2,000  men;  witli  those  there  will 
still  be  a  deficiency  of  about  1,200.  Your  Excellency  has  stated* 
to  me  that  the  men  who  have  turned  out  on  this  occasion,  have 
done  it  with  the  expectation  of  being  effectually  employed,  and 
that  should  they  be  sent  home,  there  is  uo  prospect  of  getting- 
them  to  turn  out  hereafter,  should  it  be  necessary.  To  employ 
them  all  is  impossible.  With  my  utmost  exertions,  the  embarka- 
tion cannot  be  effected  in  less  than  flfteeu  or  eighteen  days, 
should  I  even  determine  to  substitute  them  for  the  regular  troops 
which  are  expected.  To  keep  so  large  a  force  in  the  field,  even 
for  a  short  period,  would  consume  the  means  which  are  provided 
for  the  support  of  the  campaign.  Under  these  circumstances,  I 
would  recommend  a  middle  course  to  your  Excellency,  viz:  to 
dismiss  all  the  militia  but  two  regiments.  *  *  It  appears 
that  the  venerable  governor  of  Kentucky  is  about  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  troops  of  that  State.  Could  your  Excellency  think 
proper  to  follow  his  example,  I  need  not  tell  you  how  highly 
grateful  it  would  be,  dear  sir,  to  vour  friend, 

W.  H.  Harrison."* 
Agreeable  to  the  request  of  General  Harrison,  the  2,000  Ohiio 
volunteers  were  sent  to  Upper  Sandusky  by  Governor  Meigs,  to 
await  his  orders,  but  unfortunately  their  enlistment  had  only 
been  for  forty  days,  and  on  these  terms.  General  Harrison  declined 
to  accept  their  services.  This  raised  a"  storm  of  indignation 
against  the  commanding  general,  unjust  as  it  was  fleeting,  for  it 
could  hardly  be  supposed  that  raw  recruits  could  accomplish  the- 
requirenients  of  the  campaign  in  so  short  a  time.  The  new 
American  fleet  had  now  cut  loose  from  its  moorings,  and  for  the 
first  time  the  American  Jack  was  thrown  to  the  breeze  on  Lake 
Er^e.  It  sailed  up  the  lake  to  Sandusky  about  the  18th  of 
August,  where  Commodore  Perry,  who  held  command  of  it^ 
anchored  off  the  harbor  and  conferred  with  General  Harrison, 

•Dawson's  Life  of  Harrison,  p.  412. 


316  Pen'y^s   Victory. 

^ho  came  on  board  his  vessel.  The  fleet  was  still  deficient  in 
men,  and  General  Harrison  furnished  him  150  to  complete  his 
<5rew  The  Commodore  now  sailed  for  Maiden,  where  the  Eng- 
lish lieet  lay  protected  bv  the  land  batteries. 

In  vain  the  American  flag  was  flaunted  in  full  view;  the  Eng- 
lish fleet  did  not  accept  the  challenge,  and  Commodore  Perry 
retired  to  Put-in-bay,  on  the  American  side.  On  the  10th  of 
September,  however,  the  English  fleet  left  Maiden,  and  Coramo- 
•dore  Perry  immediately  sailed  out  to  meet  it.  The  following  is 
Jiis  own  account  of  the  battle  which  followed: 

"  At  15  minutes  before  12,  the  enemy  commenced  firing;  at  5 
minutes  before  12  the  action  commenced  on  our  part.  Finding 
their  fire  very  destructive,  owing  to  their  long  guns,  and  its 
l)eing  mostly  directed  to  the  Lawrence,  I  made  sail,  and  directed 
.the  other  vessels  to  follow,  for  the  purpose  of  closing  with 
the  enemy.  Every  brace  and  bow-line  being  shot  away,  she 
l)ecame  unmanageable,*  *  *  The  Lawrence,  which  was  the 
flag-ship,  finding  she  could  no  longer  annoy  the  enemy,  I 
left  her.  *  *  At  half  past  2,  the  wind  springing  up.  Cap- 
tain Elliott  was  enabled  to  bring  his  vessel,  the  Niagara,  into 
■close  action.  I  immediately  went  on  board  of  her,  when  lie  antic- 
ipated my  wish,  by  volunteering  to  bring  the  schooners,  which 
•had  been  kept  astern  by  the  lightness  of  the  wind,  into  close 
:action.  *  *  At  45  minutes  past  2  the  signal  was  made  for 
<jlose  action.  The  Niagara  being  very  little  injured,  I  deter- 
mined to  pass  through  the  enemy's  line,  bore  up  and  passed 
ahead  of  their  two  ships  and  a  brig,  large  schooner  ana  sloop 
from  the  larboard  side,  at  half  pistol  siiot  distance. 

The  smaller  vessels  at  this  time,  having  got  within  grape  and 
canister  distance,  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Elliott,  and 
keeping  up  a  well  directed  fire,  the  two  ships,  a  brig  and  a 
:6chooner  surrendered,  a  schooner  and  a  sloop  making  a  vain 
rattemptto  escape."* 

The  furious  connonading  of  the  battle  was  heard  at  Maiden, 

vvbile  its  smoke  rose  in  portentious  clouds  into  the  calm  autumn 

sky  that  overhunsr  the  lake,  dying  away  in  the  distant  haze  of  its 

tranquil  face.     Who  had  won  the  victory?  was  the  question  that 

xung  through  the  lines  of  Proctor's  army  of  4,000  white  and  red 

soldiers,  assembled  tliere  awaiting  its  issue.     Besides  these,  were 

many  American  prisoners  not  less  anxious,  among  whom  was 

J"ohn  Kinzie,  who  had  been  brought  to  the  place  in  the  following 

manner,  as  told  in  Waubun : 

Mr.  Kinzie,  as  has  been  related,  joined  his  family  at  Detroit  in  the  month  of 
January.    A  short  time  after  suspicions  arose  in  the  mind  of  Gen.  Proctor  that 

♦American  State  Papere,  "Vol.  ir,  p.  295. 


Goveriior  Shelby  Arrives.  SIT 

he  was  in  corrpspondence  with  Gen.  Han-ison,  who  was  now  at  Fort  Meifrs,  finrl 
who  was  belioved  to  he  meditating  an  advance  upon  De  roit.  Lieut.  Watson,  of 
the  British  army,  waited  upon  Mr.  Kinzie  one  day,  witi'  an  invitation  to  the  quar- 
ters of  Gen.  Proctor,  on  the  opposite  side  of  tlie  riVer,  snyin^  he  wished  to  speak 
with  him  on  business.  Quite  un8U8i>icious,  he  complied  with  the  invitation, 
when  to  his  surprise  he  was  ordered  into  confinement,  and  strictly  fjnarded  in 
the  house  of  hia  former  partner,  Mr.  Patterson  of  Sandwich.  Findinij  that  he 
did  not  return  to  his  home,  Mrs.  Kinzie  informed  some  ot  the  Indian  chiefs,  his 
particular  friends,  who  immediately  repaired  to  the  head-quarters  of  the  com- 
manding officer,  demanded  their  '"iriend's"  release,  and  brought  him  V)ack  to 
his  home.  After  w.iiting  a  time  until  a  favorable  nppoitunity  presented  itself, 
the  General  sent  a  detachment  of  drajjoons  to  arrest  him.  They  had  succeeded 
in  carrying  him  away,  and  crossing  thf  river  with  him.  .Just  at  this  moment  a 
party  of  friendly  Indians  made  their  appearance. 

"When!  is  the  Shaw-nee-aw-keey"  was  the  first  question.  "Tliere." 
replied  his  wife,  pointing  across  the  river,  "  in  the  hands  of  the  red-coats,  who 
ai-e  taking  him  away  again." 

The  Indians  ran  to  the  river,  seized  some  canoes  that  tliey  found  there,  and 
crossing  over  to  Sandwich,  compelled  Gen.  Proctor  a  second  time  to  forego  his 
intentions. 

A  third  time  this  oificer  was  more  successful,  and  succeeded  in  arresting  Mr. 
Kinzie  and  conveying  him  heavily  ironed  to  Fort  Maiden,  in  Canada,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Detroit  River.  Here  he  was  at  first  treated  with  great  severity,  but 
after  a  time  the  rigor  of  his  confinement  was  somewhat  relaxed,  and  he  was  per- 
mitted to  walk  on  the  bank  of  the  river  for  air  and  exercise. 

On  the  10th  of  September,  as  he  was  taking  his  promenade  under  the  close 
supervision  of  a  guard  of  soldiers,  the  whole  party  was  startled  by  the  sound  of 
guns  upon  Lake  Erie,  at  no  great  distance  below.  What  could  it  mean?  It 
must  be  Commodore  Barclay  firing  into  some  of  the  Yanki'es.  The  firing  con- 
tinued. The  time  alotted  the  prisoner  for  his  daily  walk  expired,  but  neither 
he  nor  his  guard  observed  the  lapse  of  time,  so  anxiously  wer(>  they  listening' 
to  what  they  now  felt  sure  was  an  engagement  bt'tween  ships  of  war.  At 
length  Mr.  Kinzie  was  reminded  that  the  hour  for  his  return  to  confinement  had 
arrived.    He  petitioned  for  another  half-hour. 

"Let  me  stay,"  said  he.  "  till  we  can  leam  how  the  battle  has  gone." ' 

Very  soon  a  sloop  appeared  under  press  of  sail,  rounding  the  point,  and  pres- 
ently two  gun-boats  in  chase  of  her. 

"  She  is  running — she  beai-s  the  British  colors,"  cried  he — "yes,  yes,  they" 
are  lowering — she  is  striking  her  flag!  Now,"  turning  to  the  .soldiers,  "  I  will 
go  back  to  prison  contented — I  know  how  the  battle  has  gone." 

The  sloop  was  the  Little  Belt,  the  last  of  the  squadr'ii  captured  by  the  gallant 
Perry  on  that  memorable  occasion,  which  he  announced  in  the  immortal  words  t 

"  We  have  met  the  enemy,  and  they  are  ours!" 

On  the  I7th  of  September,  Shelby,  tlic  venerable  reyolutionary 
father  and  governor  of  Kentucky,  arrived  at  Harrison's  head- 
quarters on  the  Portage  River,  with  2,000  Kentucky  troops.  On 
the  21st  everything  was  in  readiness^  and  the  embarkation  of 
troop  for  the  invasion  of  Canada  began.  All  the  available  water- 
craft  of  the  Americans,  together  with  the  captured  British  fleet^ 
were  brought  into  service,  and  with  the  assistance  of  all  these, 
the  army  had  to  be  tranbported  by  piece  meal,  part  of  them  being- 
conveyed  at  a  time  to  the  Middle  Sister  Island.  While  the  trans- 
portation of  the  troops  was  going  on,  General  Harrison  and  Com- 
modore Perry  made  a  reconnoisance  off  Maiden,  to  select  a  place 
for  the  debarkation  of  tlie  army.    This  done,  the  troops  wer& 


318  Battle  of  The  Thames. 

quickly  transported  from  the  inland  to  the  Canada  sliore,  and 
Maiden  was  entered  by  tliein  on  the  27th. 

Governor  Shelb}'  led  the  advance,  but  the  enemy  had  fled,  and 
ill  their  place  a  deputation  of  well-dressed  women  met  him,  with 
those  irresistable  courtesies  which  always  win  the  heart  of  a  gal- 
lant soldier.  Their  request  for  protection  was  ^jranted,  and  the 
array  passed  on  in  pursuit  of  Proctor  and  Tecumsch,  who  were  in 
full  retreat  up  the  \  alley  of  the  Thames.  On  the  5th  of  October 
thev  were  overtaken,  and  the  battle  of  the  Thames  followed,  a 
description  of  which  is  here  given,  in  General  Harrison's  official 
report,  taken  from  Dawson,  p.  427: 

''  The  troops  at  my  disposal  consisted  of  about  120  regulars 
of  the  27th  regiment,  live  brigades  of  Kentucky  volunteer 
militia  infantry,  under  His  Excellency,  Gov.  Shelby,  averaging 
less  than  600  men,  and  Col.  Johnson's  regiment  of  mounted  in- 
fantry, making  in  the  whole  an  aggregate  something  above  3,0U<). 
No  disposition  of  an  army,  opposed  to  an  Indian  force,  can  be 
safe  unless  it  is  secured  on  the  flanks  and  in  the  rear.  I  had, 
therefore,  no  diftlcuity  in  arranging  the  infantry  cjnforniably  to 
my  general  order  of  battle.  General  Trotter's  brigade  of  500 
men,  formed  the  front  line,  his  right  upon  the  road  and  his  left 
upon  the  swamp.  General  King's  brigade  as  a  second  line,  150 
yards  in  the  rear  of  Trotter's,  and  Chiles'  brigade  as  a  corps  of 
reserve  in  the  rear  of  it.  These  three  brigades  formed  the  com- 
mand of  Major  General  Henry;  the  whole  of  Gen.  Desha's 
division,  consisting  of  two  brigades,  were  formed  en  potence 
upon  tlie  left  of  Trotter. 

Whilst  I  was  engaged  in  forming  the  infiwtrv,  I  had  directed 
•Col.  Johnson's  regiment,  which  was  still  in  front,  to  be  formed  in 
two  lines  opposite  to  the  enemy,  and  upon  the  advance  of  the 
infantry,  to  take  ground  to  the  left,  and  forming  upon  that  flank 
to  endeavor  to  turn  the  right  of  the  Indians.  A  moment's  re- 
flection, however,  convinced  me  that  from  the  thickness  of  the 
woods  and  swampiness  of  the  ground,  they  would  be  unable  to 
do  anything  on  horseback,  and  there  was  no  time  to  dismount 
them  and  place  their  horses  in  security;  1  therefore  determined 
to  refuse  my  left  to  the  Indians,  and  to  break  the  British  lines  at 
once,  by  a  charge  of  the  mounted  infantry:  the  measure  was  not 
sanctioned  by  any  thing  that  I  had  seen  or  heard  of,  but  I  was 
fully  convinced  that  it  would  succeed.  The  American  back- 
woodsmen ride  better  in  the  woods  than  any  other  people.  A 
musket  or  rifle  is  no  impediment  to  them,  being  accustomed  to 
carry  them  on  horseback  from  their  earliest  youth.  I  was  per- 
suaded, too,  that  the  enemy  would  be  ipiite  unprepared  for  the 
shock,  and  that  they  could  not  resist  it.     Conformably  to  this 


Battle  of  The  Thames.  319 

idoa,  I  directed  the  repment  to  be  drawn  up  in  close  column, 
\vith  its  rl<ijht  ut  the  distance  of  fifty  yards  from  the  road,  (that 
it  nii<jfht  be  in  some  measure  protected  by  the  trees  from  the 
artillery)  its  left  upon  the  swamp,  and  to  cliarge  at  full  speed  as 
soon  as  the  enenn-  delivered  their  lire.  The  few  regular  troops 
of  the  27th  regiment,  under  their  Colonel  (Paull)  occupied,  in 
column  of  sections  of  four,  the  small  space  between  the  road  and 
the  river,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  the  enemy's  artillery,  and 
some  ten  or  twelve  friendly  Indians  were  directed  to  move  un- 
der the  bank.  The  crotchet  formed  by  the  front  line,  and  Gen- 
eral Desha's  division,  was  an  important  point.  At  that  place, 
the  venerable  Governor  of  Kentucky  was  posted,  who  at  the  age 
of  sixty-six  j)re5erves  all  the  vigor,  of  youth,  the  ardent  zeal 
which  distinguished  him  in  the  revolutionary  war,  and  the  un- 
daunted bravery  which  he  manifested  at  King's  Mountain.  With 
my  aids-de-camp,  the  acting  assistant  Adjutant  General,  Captain 
lUitler,  my  gallant  friend  Commodore  Perry,  who  did  me  the 
lionor  to  serve  as  my  volunteer  Aid-de-camp,  and  Brigadier- 
General  Cass,  who  having  no  command,  tendered  me  his  assist- 
ance, I  placed  myself  at  the  head  of  the  front  line  of  infantry, 
TO  direct  the  movements  of  the  cavalry,  and  give  them  the 
necessary  support.  The  army  had  move<l  on  in  this  order  but  a 
hhort  distance,  when  the  mounted  men  received  the  fire  of  the 
British  line,  and  were  ordered  to  charge;  the  horses  in  the  front 
of  the  column  recoiled  from  the  fire;  another  was  given  by  the 
enemy;  and  our  column  at  length  getting  in  motion,  broke 
through  the  enemy  with  irresistible  force.  In  one  minute  the 
contest  in  front  was  over;  the  British  officers  seeing  no  hopes  of 
reducing  their  disordered  ranks  to  order,  and  our  mounted  men 
wheeling  upon  them  and  pouring  in  a  destructive  lire,  immedi- 
ately surrendered.  It  is  certain  that  three  onlv  of  our  troops 
w<'re  wounded  in  this  charg(\  Upon  the  left,  however,  the  con 
test  was  more  severe  with  the  Indians.  Colonel  Johns«)n,  who 
■commanded  on  that  flank  of  his  regiment,  received  a  most  gall- 
ing fire  from  them,  which  was  returned  with  great  eflfect.  The 
Indians  still  further  to  the  right  advanced  and  fell  in  with  our 
Irout  line  of  infantry,  near  its  junction  with  Desha's  division, 
and  for  a  moment  made  an  impression  upon  it.  Plis  Excellency, 
Governor  Shelby,  however,  brought  up  a  regiment  to  itssu])port, 
and  the  enemy  receiving  a  severe  fire  in  front,  and  a  part  of 
Johnson's  regiment  having  gained  their  rear,  retreated  with 
precipitation.  Their  loss  was  very  considerable  in  the  action, 
-und  many  were  killed  in  their  retreat." 

Tecumseh  was  slain  in  this  battle.     C«donel  Richard  M.  John- 
son, afterwards   vice-president   of  the   United   States,    without 


320  Death  of  Tecumseh. 

donltt,  believed  himself  to  he  the  one  who  achieved  tlie  honor. 
There  is  w)od  testimony  thathekilled  an  Indian  wlioni  lie  thouijlit 
to  be  him,*  bnt  there  is  conflicting  testiniunv  as  to  who  killed 
Tecmnseh.  Shabonee,  whose  inteajritv  niav  be  vouched  for  bv 
man}'  of  tho  old  settlers  of  Chicago,  who  are  still  living,  was  near 
Teeumseh  when  he  was  killed,  and  attributed  his  death  to  Colone' 
Johnson  .f 

Mr.  William  llickling,  a  well-known  citizen  of  (^liicago,  was 
familiarly  acquainted  with  Shabonee  and  Caldwell,  who  both 
lived  at  Chicago  in  her  early  day,  and  in  a  paper  which  he  rcail 
before  the  Chicaijo  Historical  Societv  in  1877,  the  following:  state- 
ment  is  made,  which  brings  to  light  some  new  facts  relative  to 
the  battle  of  the  Thames: 

Caldwell  held  in  hiprh  regard,  and  often  spoke  of  the  military  f?enins  and 
other  qualifications  of  'I'ecMiinsoli.  lookinjj  upon  him  as  the  greatest  warrior 
chief  of  his  time.  Caldwell,  like  his  leader  Teeumseh,  duriny  the  last  year  of 
their  military  career,  while  operatinir  iu  connection  with  the  British  on  our 
frontier,  and  in  Canada,  lost  all  contidence  in  the  ability  of  Gen.  Proctor,  the 
British  commander.  It  is  well  known  that  Tecuuiseh  was  bitterly  opposed  to 
the  evacuation  of  Fort  Maiden,  and  subsequently,  when  the  Hritish  commander 
halted  in  his  retieat,  and  ibrmed  his  lines  for  a  combat  at  the  Moravian  Towns, 
it  was  because  Gen.  'J'ecumseh  informed  him  that  he  and  his  Indians  thouj^'.t 
the  aimy  had  retreated  far  enough,  aud  were  not  going  any  further  without  first 
having  a  fight.  Teeumseh  was  summoned  to  the  British  headquarters  to  discuss 
the  plan  of  battle.  We  have  the  authority  of  (.Caldwell  to  say  that  Teeumseh 
and  Gen.  Proctor  had  a  violent  quarrel  over  the  plans  laid  out  by  the  latter  ibr 
the  conflict.  That  Teeumseh  left  the  British  headquarter-;  in  disgust,  after  only 
a  short  interview,  and  returned  to  the  old  position  occupied  liy  him  an  hour  or  so 
previous,  and  then  sending  Caldwell  to  see  (ien.  Proctor,  and  urge  upon  him  thi; 
necessity  of  changing  his  plan  of  battle.  Soon  after  the  departure  of  Caldwell 
from  his  Indian  allies,  the  battle  commenced  with  great  fury.  The  death  of 
Teeumseh.  and  route  of  the  British  and  Intlian  forces  are  well  known  in  history. 
Caldwell  was  not  able  to  again  join  his  Indian  iriends,  until  after  the  battle  was 
over.  He  always  expressed  himself  as  well  satisfied,  that  hatl  Gen.  Teeumseh. 
instead  of  Gen.  Proctor,  held  command  over  both  armies  (British  and  Indians) 
that  the  result  of  the  <'ampaign,  and  espwiilly  its  fatfll  finale  at  the  "  Thames," 
would  have  been  different  Shabonee.  Towimseh,  Caldwell,  and  Black  Hawk 
were  in  counsel  together,  sitting  on  a  log,  or  tallen  tree,  smoking  their  pipes, 
and  talking  over  the  events  of  the  times,  when  the  juessenger  from  Gen.  Proc- 
tor arrived,  summoning  Teeumseh  to  his  headquiVrters. 

The  soil  of  the  northwest  was  now  unpressed  by  the  foot  of  any 
armed  foe  except  at  Michiliniaclnac.  The  campaign  thus  closed. 
Governor  Shelby's  volunteers  were  liononibly  discliarged,  and 
General  Harrison,  with  his  force  of  regulars,  embarked  from 
Detroit  on  the  23d  of  October,  in  obedien**e  to  orders  from  the 
war  department,  after  having  a]n>ointed  (Jeneral  Cass  as  pro- 
visional governor  of  Michigan,  ana  leaving  a  force  of  1,000  troops 
under  his  command.     Early  the  next  spring,  in  1814,  the  gover- 

•See  Hist.  Coll.  Stat*-  Hist.  So.   .f  Wis.  p.  ;<72. 
tSee  HiBt.  Coll.  State  Hi^'t.  So.  of  Wis.,  p.  ;{73. 


Prairie  du  Chiai   TaTien  by  The  British.  321 

eminent  antlioritios  of  St.  Louis,  apjircluMisivc  of  a  British  inva- 
sion from  MicliiliiHackiiuu'.  sent  a  detaclniieiit  of  soldiers  to  lejiair 
the  old  fort  at  Prairie  du  Cliien,  and  defend  the  i>hice  against  an 
attack. 

That  these  appreliensions  were  well  grounded,  soon  became 
apparent,  for  a  large  force  of  Bi'itir^h  and  Indians  shortly  after- 
wards came  down  the  Wisconsin  river,  under  Colonel  ]\IcKay, 
and  laid  siege  to  the  place.  It  was  taken  after  an  obstinate 
defense,  its  garrison  parolled  and  sent  to  St.  Louis.  In  the  month 
of  Jnly,  the  same  year,  an  expedition  was  litteJ  out  at  Detroit  to 
capture  Michilimackinac,  Commodore  Sinclair  commanding  the 
fleet,  and  Colonel  Crogan,  the  hero  of  Ft.  Stephenson,  the  land 
forces.  The  latter  landed  on  the  Island,  but  fell  into  an  ambus- 
cade in  apin-oaching  the  fort,  and  were  severely  rejiulsed,  when 
the  expedition  returned  without  affecting  its  oi>ject,  and  Michili- 
mackinac, us  well  as  Prairie  du  Cliien.  remained  in  British  posses- 
sion till  given  up  by  the  terms  of  peace,  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
The  first  hostile  blow  in  this  war  had  tallen  upon  the  northwest 
on  the  upper  lakes,  under  an  impres>ion  that  having  coiupicred 
this  part  of  the  country,  and  guaranteed  a  goodly  ])ortion  of  it  to 
certain  Indian  tribes  as  independent  nations,  the  Xew  England 
States  would,  through  their  influence  in  the  English  end  of  the 
scale  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  in  a  jtcaceful  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion, even  with  these  conditions,  and  in  that  early  age,  such  a 
solution  of  the  issue  to  English  eyes,  seemed  possible,  especially 
as  it  was  no  secret  to  English  dipionnxtists  that  if  the  counsels  of 
the  New  England  States  had  ruled  alone,  the  war  would  not  have 
been  declared,  at  least  till  moi-e  time  had  transpired  to  tone 
down  the  pretentious  spirit  of  the  English,  jade  1  to  frenzy,  as 
they  were,  by  the  formidable  con<j[uests  of  their  great  ad\ersary, 
Napoleon. 

In  this  dream,  the  English  calculated  without  their  host,  for 
when  the  pinch  came,  the  New  England  States  manifested  no 
disposition  to  desert  the  west,  or  to  give  it  up,  either  to  E'lglish 
or  Indian  hands,  although  from  conscientious  scruples  they  did 
object  to  invade  Canada.  The  attempt  to  establish  an  indepen- 
dent nation  of  savages  north  of  the  Ohio  river,  was  equally  imprac- 
ticable, and  as  might  have  been  supposed,  resulted  in  the  Eng- 
lisli  breaking  faith  v.-ith  the  Indians  when  peace  was  made,  witii- 
out  fultilling,their  obligation.  The  proof  that  such  an  oblijj;ation 
was  entered  into  by  the  English  witii  the  Indians,  is  im|.lied  by 
the  tenacity  with  which  they  insisted  feven  as  a  nine  qua  non 
to  a  treaty  of  peace)  on  the  integrity  ot  an  Indian  confederacy, 
with  its  distinct  boundaries. 

The  boundary  was  to  be  the  same  as  that  established  at  the 


322  2'cstiinony  of  lioddi'l  and  Caldwell. 

treaty  of  Greenville,  in  1795.  It  would  have  given  the  Indians 
the 'northern  ]>orti(»ns,  and  the  larg;est  half  of  the  entire  northwest 

At  or  hefore  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  this  aUurenient  was 
held  out  to  Tecuniseh,  and  by  it  his  alliance  secured  and  his  mas- 
terly eneri^ies  broui^dit  to  bear  in  favor  of  the  English,  notwith- 
standing the  fatal  results  of  the  proi>liet's  defeat  at  Tippecanoe. 
Besides,  the  manifest  evidence  of  this,  which  was  brought  to  the 
Burfaco  during  the  peace  negotiations  at  Ghent,  is  the  oral  testi- 
mony of  two  witnesses,  liev.  Mr.  Ruddel,  of  Kentucky,  and  Billy 
Caldwell,  chief  of  the  Pottawattoinies,  who  lived  at  Chicago. 
Mr.  Ruddel  was  taken  captive  by  the  Sh a waneese,  raised  by  them 
to  manhood,  and  delivered  up  to  his  kindred  at  the  treaty  of 
Greenville.  On  coining  into  the  walks  of  civilizr.tion,  he  soon 
educated  himself,  and  becaine  an  efficient  minister  of  the  Gospel 
in  the  Christian  denomination.  After  the  close  of  the  war  of 
1812,  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  visit  his  early  friends  among  the 
Shawaneese,  and  especially  those  of  Tecumseh,  to  learn  what  he 
could  of  the  history  of  the  fallen  chief;  and  from  them  he  learned 
that  the  English  did  pledge  to  Tecumseh,  to  secure  for  the  Indians 
as  allies,  permanent  possession  of  the  territory,  not  included  in 
the  lands  relinquished  to  the  whites,  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville. 
With  this  guarantee,  Tecum?eh  again  took  up  the  sword, 
although  his  tribe  had  nuide  peace  with  General  Harrison,  after 
the  Tippecanoe  campaign.  The  iirst  year  of  the  war  justified 
Lis  expectations,  but  when  the  recoil  came,  and  Proctor  retreated 
from  American  soil,  Tecumseh  became  dissatisfied,  and  doubted 
the  aoility  of  the  English  to  fulfil  their  obligations.  This  he 
freely  expressed  at  a  ])i-ivate  conference  with  hischiefs,just  before 
the  battle  of  the  Thames.  Billy  Caldwell  was  at  this  conference, 
and  at  Chicago  in  1833,  when  interviewed  by  Mr.  Peck,  the 
author  of  the  Western  Annals  verified  the  statements  of  Mr. 
lluddel. 

Says  Mr,  Peck,  in  his  history,  page  647: 

"  He  was  anxious  to  find  some  trustworthy  American  citizen  to 
write  tiie  biography  of  Tecumseh,  and  gave  as  a  reason  that  no 
British  officer  should  ever  perform  that  service  to  his  distinguished 
friend,"  remarking  at  the  same  time:  "The British  officers  prom- 
ised to  stand  by  the  Indians  until  we  gained  our  object.  Tliey 
basely  deserted  us,  got  defeated,  and  after  putting  in  our  claims 
in  the  negotiations  at  Ghent,  finally  left  us  to  make  peace  witli 
the  A  niericans  on  tiie  best  terms  we  could.  The  Americans  fairly 
whippetl  us,  and  then  treated  with  us  honorably,  and  no  Briton 
shall  touch  one  of  my  papers." 

"  Mr.  Caldwell  had  a  trunk  well  filled  with  papers  and  docu- 
ments, pertaining  to  Tecumseh," 


Negotiations  at  Ghent.  32."$ 

Tlie  coiulitions  and  issues  that  came  before  both  the  English 
:arid  Americans  at  the  iiei,'otiations  of  peace  at  Ghent,  were  pecu- 
liar. It  was  necessary,  in  order  to  bring  about  peace,  that  both 
nations  should  make  humiliating  concessions.* 

The  following  is  copied  from  [rej>urts  of  the  American  peace 
commissioners  at  Ghent,  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  asking  instruc- 
tions: 

Ghent,  19th  of  August,  1814. 

■  Itwiis  asinc  quanon  that  the  Indians  should  be  inchided  in  the  pacification 
and  as  incident  tliereto:  that  the  l)oundaries  t>t'  t'nur  territory  should  be  per- 
manently established.  Peace  with  the  Indians  is  ao  simple  as  to  require  no 
comment. 

With  respect  to  the  boundary  which  was  to  divide  their  territory  from  that  of 
the  United  States,  tln'  oliject  of  the  British  grovemment  was,  that  the  Indians 
Bhould  reuiuiu  as  a  permanent  barrier  between  our  western  settlements  and  the 
adjacent  British  provinces,  to  prevent  them  from  being  cont<'niiinous  to  each 
other;  and  that  neither  the  United  States  nor  Great  Britain  should  ever  here- 
after have  the  right  to  purchase  or  acquire  any  part  of  the  territory  thus  recog- 
nized as  belonging  to  the  Indians.     British  State  papers,  Vol.  r.  Part  ii,  p.  1589. 

Peace  was  necessary  for  both  nations;  England  had  been  in  the 
vortex  of  European  war  for  twelve  years;  American  discontent 
was  crop[»ing  out  in  ]>rotests  fmui  the  legisltitures  of  Massachusetts 
and  Conneeticut,t  and  from  tlie  Hartford  convention,  composed 
of  delegates  from  throughout  New  England. 

The  handiwork  of  the  sword  had  exhausted  Europe,  and  he 
who  would  try  to  prolong  its  devastations  was  an  enemy  to  man- 
kind, (conservatism  w.as  above  ])ar,  and  the  American  Govern- 
jnent  set  *lie  example  by  instrtictintr  her  peace  commissioners  to 
add  no  fuel  to  the  council-tires  at  Ghent,  bv  mentioniuij  the  sub 
ject  of  li'igltt  of  Search  or  luiprcninvent  of  American  Seamen. 
This  was  an  admission  that  time,  an<l  not  the  sword,  had  won 
our  cr.use.  It  also  rebuked  the  pdlicy  of  Jetferson,  which  re- 
jected   the  terms  oflered  by  England   to  Messrs.  Monroe  and 

*\Vhat  is  the  jirobable  result  of  this  negotiation  is  hard  to  suppose.  The  ques- 
tion of  a  S[)eedy  peace  we  rather  apprehend,  depends  on  the  prospects  of  things 
in  Europe,  and  the  turn  of  events  in  the  congress  of  Vienna.  In  case  peace 
should  not  be  made,  this  fact  will  he  apparent  to  every  one,  that  the  war  on  our 
part,  if  oHensive  in  its  onset,  will  be  purely  defensive  in  its  future  progress  and 
termination.  With  the;  yeneval  pacification  of  Europe,  the  chief  causes  for 
■which  we  went  to  war  with  Great  Britain,  have,  from  the  nature  of  things,  cesLsed 
to  affect  us;  it  is  not  for  us  to  qnarri'l  for  forms.  Britain  may  pretend  to  any 
right  she  please",  provided  she  does  not  exercise  it  to  our  injury. — Niks  Regis- 
ter,  Dec.  lu//t.  1814. 

tK>i.i"ly  in  1814,  the  L.'gislature  of  Connecticut  passed  a  resolution  to  consider 
wliat  measures  should  he  taken  to  pre^cn'e  the  lil)erties  and  rights  of  her  citi- 
zenK,  when  the  Secretary  of  War  called  upon  her  for  troops  to  invade  Canada;  and 
on  the  7th  of  October,  the  same  yer»r,  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  convened 
an  extra  session  of  the  legislature,  to  take  into  consideration  the  dangers  of  an 
English  invasion  of  her  State,  as  a  consequence  ot  the  war,  which  many  of  her 
wtatesmen  deemed  unnecessary. 


324'  ''  Nefjotiations  at  Ghcni:    "■ 

PiniekTl6y  in  1808,  whioli  werf  that  an  infbrinal  assurance  should 
be  given  that  the  practice  of  Right  of  Search  sliould  be  discon-- 
tinned.*  History  would  fail  to  fulfil  its  mission  if  it  did  not 
state  liere  that  when  the  war  was  declared  Napoleon  was  in  the 
height  of  his  po^ver.  Now  he  was  an  exile  at  Elba,  and  Eng- 
land's well  drilled  army  was  released  from  the  service  at  home 
which  had  placed  him  there,  and  consequently  ready  for  an 
American  campaign. 

Still  she  was  not  ambitious  to  undertake  it,  choosing  rather  to 
relinquish  her  first  terms  than  prolong  the  war.  Besides  her  plan 
for  an  independent  Indian  nation  in  the  northwest,  was  another 
provision,  which  was  to  bar  the  Americans  from  building  any  for- 
tifications on  the  shores  of  the  lakes,  or  placing  any  armed  vessels 
of  war  on  their  vraters,f  on  the  ground  that  such  a  provision  was 
necessary  to  preserve  Canada  from  the  danger  of  an  American 
invasion.  These  impracticable  terms  being  given  up,  an  attempt 
was  made  to  define  the  boundary  between  the  two  governments 
on  tlie  northeastern  and  on  the  northwestern  frontier,  but  this 
involved  more  com])li('ations  than  were  ex])edient  to  be  under- 
taken at  the  time,  and  the  matter  was  left  for  future  adjustment, 
and  so  remained  till  settled  by  the  Ashbnrtou  treaty  of  1840.  The 
treaty  was  signed  on  the  24th  of  December,  1814,  and  ratified  at 
Washington  on  the  17th  of  Feltruarv,  IS] 5.+ 

The  battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought  during  this  interval, 
after  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  for  then  its  combatants  had  not 
heard  the  news  of  the  jieace. 

The  war  was  not  without  its  glories  to  American  arms,  though 
its  main  issue  was  a  dead  one  a  few  days  after  its  declaration, 
when  the  British  revoked  their  orders  in  council,  which  had 
been  so  obnoxious  to  American  interests,  as  told  in  a  previous 
chariter. 

Treaties  of  peace  with  the  various  western  tribes  of  Indians 

*  Jefferson's  rejection  of  the  terms  was  bocanse  ho  declined  to  insert  them  in 
the  treaty.  Perhaps  his  residence  in  T'aris  aa  Annrican  minister,  had  dazzled 
his  eyes  with  French  glory  to  the  detriment  of  England  and  he  was  not  unwil- 
ling to  exact  from  her  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  radical  justice. 

tAm.  State  Papers,  1811  to  1815,  p.  607. 

$In  considering  the  conditions  of  the  peace,  as  we  have  been  informed  of 
them,  we  canriOt  but  regard  them  as  honorable  to  this  country.  The  American 
Government  began  the  war  on  account  of  the  orders  in  council,  and  to  enforce 
the  relinquishment  of  impressmfint  on  board  t'leir  mi'rchaut  vessels.  The  ordei-s 
in  couucil  were  repealed  by  our  government  before  they  knew  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war.  The  war  was  continued  by  America,  after  she  knew  of  the 
repeal  of  the  orders  in  council,  to  compel  us  to  relinquish  the  right  of  impress- 
ment. It  was  Amenca,  and  not  Great  Britian,  which  claimed  stipulation  on 
this  point.  The  war  is  concluded  bv  a  peace  in  which  no  such  stipulatian  ia 
made. — London  Courier,  Dec.  21th,  l8l4. 


Pcnc;  'Wdh    The  Indinns.  -  -^25 

^v^l<»  liiid  Item  victiiuizt'd  into  partici]>ation  in  tlie  war  followed 
lilt'  siu'('L's?,tul  nfii"otiati()iifs  at  Glient,  of  course,  for  tliese  iiapiessj 
-wrctclios  were  no  longer  able  to  rairie  a  hor-tile  arm.* 

General  Harrison  and  Lewis  Cass,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  nei^otiated  Avith  the  Delawares,  Shawanees,  Senecas  and 
Miamis.  at  Greenville,  where,  nineteen  years  before.  Gen.  Wayne 
had  held  the  famous  treaty  with  Western  tribes,  which  took  the 
first  half  of  the  country  from  thera,  and  the  moiety  had  been 
taken  by  ])iec'emoal.  till  but  little  was  left  to  give.  William 
Clark,  Governor  of  Missouri,  Ninian  Edwards,  Governor  of  Illi- 
nois Territory,  and  lion.  Auguste  Chouteau,  of  St.  Louis,  treated 
with  the  Northwestern  tribes,  among  whom  were  the  Fottowat- 
tiimies,  in  July,  1815,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  ^Mississippi  river, 
just  above  the  month  of  the  ]\Iissouri.  The  Sac  nation  did  not 
attend  this  convention,  but  the  Septemlier  tbliowing  a  treaty  was 
made  with  such  portions  of  their  tribe  as  felt  friendly  with  the 
United  States.  J>lack  Hawk  was  not  among  these,  and. did  not 
-attend  the  treaty.  This  tenacious  brave  still  clung  to  British 
interests,  even  after  hope  had  fled,  and  remained  in  this  moody 
frame  of  mind  till  the  western  march  of  settlements  began  to 
'encroach  on  the  rights  of  his  tribe,  by  occupying  the  beautiful 
lioek  liiver  Valley,  in  1S32.  Then  came  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
which  will  be  told  in  its  place. 

Kaskaskia  wius  at  this  time  tbe  capital  of  Illinois  Tt'iTitory,  where  the  execu- 
tive court  was  held  in  an  antique  French  huililiny  made  diirin<r  that  early  civi- 

■lization  that  had  been  be<rnn  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  at  this  historic 
place,  in  1700.  Here  its  charitalile  mantle  had  fallen  upon  three  generations, 
and  here  it  now  extended  ffood-feilowship  to  the  new  regime  though  about  to 
l)rin«r  more  progressive  institutions  to  the  country  destined  to  overshadow 
French  social  life  in  llh'nois.     Several  of  the  buildings  ei-ected  in  the  past  cen- 

'tury  are  still  standing  here  in  a  good  state  of  preservation.     Its  civil  and  church 

.records  are  very  extensive,  dating  back  to  the  time  of  its  first  settlement. 

An  intereciting  chapter  of  early  French  history  and  heraldry,  ha^  lately  been 
gleaned  from  them  by  E.  (v.  Mason  i''sq.  of  Chicago,  which  was  published  in 

•the  Chicago  Times.  It  brings  to  light  new  data  for  the  romancer,  as  well  aa 
the  historian.  Some  futun-  day  Kask.iski;i,  as  the  old  mediaeval  land  mark  be- 
tween savage  and  civilized  life,  will  be  looked  upon  with  increasing  interest. 
Itut  as  yet.  the  onward  march  of  western  settlments  have  exhau.xted  nearly  all 
their  force  in  laying  the  dimension  stone,  on  which  to  build  permanent  institu- 
tjuns  in  the  broad  wilds,  to  which  the  war  of  1812  opened  the  doors. 

•The  history  only  of  such  campaigns  in  this  wax  has  been  written  here 
4is  bore  relation  to  the  northwest. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

TTie  Great  West  as  a  New  Arena  for  Progress — Religious  Free- 
dom— Its  Effects — Distrihutive  Versus  Concentrated  hear- 
rwng — Our  Gorman  Pedigree  and  Its  Effects — The  Lakes  or 
Highway  to  the  West — Fort  Dearborn  Rehuilt — PreUminarif 
Survey  for  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal — John  Kinzie 
Returns  to  Chicago — Indian  Treaty  Relinquishing  Landa 
from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River — Illinois  Admitted  Intn 
the  Union  as  a  Sovereign  State — Its  Northern  Boundary 
Extended — Reasons  for  it — Chicago  The  Central  Key  of 
The  Nation. 

When  nniversal  entluisiapm  in  any  one  direction  dissolves  into 
apathy  from  exhaustion  of  the  forces  which  pulled  in  that  direct- 
ion, then  comes  an  epocli  when  mankind  enter  upon  new  lieids 
of  labor  quite  difterent  from  the  ones  that  have  last  engrossed 
their  attention,  and  new  energies  that  have  long  lain  dormant  are 
awakened  into  life.  Such  a  point  was  reached  when  Europe 
sheathed  the  sword  after  the  downfall  of  iN^apO'leon  in  1814. 
Renown  at  the  cannon's  mouth  was  no  '  nger  sought  after,  for  it 
was  evident  to  the  simplest  understa*  -ling,  that  industry  to  build 
up  what  \(far  had  torn  down  would  pa .  L»est,  and  with  these  nobler 
purposes  in  view,  Europe  and  Aiiierica  went  to  work. 

England's  problem  was  how  to  keep  the  balance  of  trade  in  her- 
favor,  and  how  to  pay  the  interest  on  her  public  debt  which  had 
BO  recently  been  contracted.  America's  was  how  to  build  turn- 
pikes, canals  and  school  houses  throughout  the,  as  yet,  unknown 
and  illimitable  northwest.  Both  nations  set  about  their  respec- 
tive callings  immediately,  to  fultill  which,  the  inventive  genius 
of  the  artisan  was  stiujulated,  and  new  machinery  sprang  into 
existence  by  which  creative  power  to  supply  the  wants  of  man. 
was  multiplied. 

Besides  this,  America  on  her  part  brought  to  her  aid  new 
achievements  in  religion  and  public  policy.  The  State  was  re- 
lieved from  any  responsibilitv  i?»  the  former,  each  individual 
conscience  being  left  free  to  choose  its  own  forms  of  woj'siiip  due- 


I 


Distributive  Learning.  327 

to  divine  grace.  Here  it  is  not  too  mucli  to  say  that  to  the 
west  belongs  the  lionor  of  sweeping  away  every  vest{i<£e  of  lesjal 
authority  over  religion  from  the  first,  while  in  New  England  a 
public  tax  in  the  early  day  was  levied  for  the  support  of  the 
gospel  by  the  authority  of  the  State.*  This  one  idea  is  worth 
more  than  all  the  moral  results  of  Napoleon's  campaigns,  which 
employed  the  available  forces  of  nearl}'^  all  Europe  for  more  than 
ten  yt-ars.  The  prosperity  of  the  west  is  in  j)art  due  to  this 
rinciple,  nor  has  its  exemplary  blessings  stopped  where  they 
egan,  but  by  their  moral  force  lune  alreody  underiuined  the 
religious  policy  of  England  by  presenting  a  contrast  so  much  in 
favor  of  individual  accountability  when  pitted  against  state  au- 
thority in  matters  of  conscience,  f 

In  ancient  times  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  was  forbidden 
to  the  masses,  and  a  penalty  attached  to  those  who  tasted  it.  Now, 
the  interest  of  neither  king,  priest  or  pedagogue  is  advanced  by 
a  monopoly  of  this  boon.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  presented  to 
the  people  under  the  most  enticing  forms  which  universities,  col- 
leges, schoolhouses,  books  and  news])a])ers  are  able  to  oft'er.  Un- 
d^r  this  condition,  the  philosophy  which  once  gave  such  singnlar 
fame  to  Cimfucius,  Zoroaster,  Plato  and  others,  and  later  to  Co- 
pernicus, LaPlace  and  their  kindred  spirits,  is  now  familiar  to 
Hiillions  of  men,  and  within  the  reach  of  every  one.  America 
was  offered  as  a  iield  where  this  learning  could  be  cultivated  on 
a  new  soil,  where  there  was  no  danger  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  overshadowing  influences  of  clannishness  in  politics  or  relig- 
ion, or  the  rights  of  feudalism.  The  result  is  shown  in  poetry, 
song,  oratory  and  literature.     The  vital  forces  of  a  nation  are  on 

*  In  1638  the  following  appeared  in  the  Colonial  Records  of  Massachusetts, 
Vol.  1,  p.  240: 

"  This  Court,  takeini?  into  consideration  the  necessity  of  an  equall  contribu- 
tion of  all  conion  charges  in  townes,  and  observing  that  the  cheife  occation  of 
this  defect  hearin  airiseth  from  hence  that  many  of  those  who  are  not  freemen 
nor  members  of  any  church  do  take  advantage  thereby  to  withdraw  thi<»r  helpe 
in  such  voluntary  contribution  as  ate  in  vse — It  is  therefore  i^euiby  declared, 
ev'ry  inbabitimt  in  any  towne  is  lyable  to  contribute  to  all  charges  both  in 
church  and  comonwelthe  whereoff  hee  doth  or  may  receive  benefit:  and  withall 
it  is  also  ordered  that  such  inhnbitants  who  shall  not  voluntarily  contribute 
p'portionately  to  his  ability  wth  other  freemen  of  the  same  towne  to  alKomon 
charges,  as  well  as  tor  upholding  the  ordinances  in  the  "churches  as  otherwise, 
shal  be  compelled  thereto  by  assessment  and  distress,  to  bee  levied  by  the  cun- 
etuble." 

Modifications  of  this  old  law  inherited  from  England,  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion, have  had  place  in  various  Nfw  England  States,  even  sinre  tliey.  witii  tlie 
other  colonies,  gained  ti)eir  iiuiep  ndence;  and  it  is  still  within  the  metiio.y  of 
the  middle-aged  men  of  our  day  that  its  last  vestiges  were  released  tioin  llie 
etatiitc  books. 

t  The  modification  of  England's  system  of  tithes  is  a  proof  of  this  assertion. 


32S  \N<>r)ujni   Inlterii mce.  _  v 

an  unrt'inittiiii;  strain  to  grasp  at  new  teaches  in  science  and  ar- 
tisurisliip,  and  lite  now  sees  abundant  diversity  to  animate  its 
pathway. 

Sucli  is  America,  jtarticnlarly  the  West,  in  her  crownin<i^i!fh:)ry. 
Among  those  wlio  live  in  this  age  of  activity  there  are  censors 
who  protest  against  its  turmoil,  and  sigh  for  the  quietude  of  olden 
times.  Perlia]>s  the  restive  spirits  of  the  ambitious  West  would 
run  mad  witlu)ut  the  restraining  influence  of  these  counselors. 
They  may  bo  necessary  to  prune  otf  the  tangent  points  which 
may  be  called  tlu'  deformitit.'s  of  our  cycle  in  history,  neverthe- 
less unpar.illeled  in  grandeur — a  cycle  in  which  not  such  archi- 
tectural piles  as  the  ]*y  ram  ids,  the  Pantheon  or  the  Colosonm 
have  been  built  by  enforced  labor,  but  one  In  which  humbler 
edifices,  dedicated  to  science  and  religion,  have  been  distributed 
throughout  the  land.  Mental  alchemy  has  economized  her  most 
potent  forces  within  unpretentious  domicils;  and  where  this  is 
the  universal  condition,  national  issues  hang  upon  the  turn  of  a 
subtle  power,  gathering  its  force  from  a  considerate  public  opin- 
ion as  a  result  of  distributive  instead  of  concentrated  learning. 
This  force  is  comparatively  perfect  when  it  is  adequate  to  check- 
mate the  sinister  purposes  of  private  ambition,  used  against  the 
public  int(;rest:  and  that  it  should  ever  be  up  to  this  stand- 
ard, is  essential  to  the  success  of  a  Republican  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

*  From  the  ancient  !N'ormans,  have  we  undoubtedly  inherited 
through  ancient  J^riton  blood,  our  love  of  literature,  and  our 
ambition  to  outrival  the  rest  of  the  world  in  national  grandeur, 
and  although  Americans  love  to  date  their  patent  from  Plymouth 
Rock  or  Jamestowf,  it  can  only  be  claimed  that  these  were  way 
stations,  on  the  road  from  the  original  starting  point.  The 
literature  of  the  ancient  N^ormans  and  even  their  mythology,  is 
a  sublime  study  of  wliicli  their  descendants,  though  diluted  with 
the  evolutions  of  centuries,  may  justly  be  proud.  Their  brain 
power  has  crept  through  the  attenuations  of  European  revolutions, 
and  like  the  whirlwind,  lias  seemed  to  gather  force,  till  it  has 
found  its  way  to  the  great  interior  of  North  America,  to  set  up  a 
nucleus,  around  which  to  build  up  our  States  as  soon  as  the  coun- 
try became  accessible  to  settlers.  The  termination  of  the  war  of 
1812  opened  the  gates  to  it,  down  to  whish  time  the  intrigues  of 

*  The  Normans  or  North  men  settled  in  Norway,  as  emigrants  from  Asia, 
while  Rome  was  in  her  {?lory.  Tliey  settled  Iceland  in  8()0,  and  Greenland 
in  986.  Thfjy  conquered  both  England  and  France  in  the  day  of  their  glory, 
and  in  1066,  William  the  Conqueror,  a  pure  Norman,  became  king  of  England, 
many  gsnerations  after  his  people  had  first  overrun  the  country  and  settled  there. 
From  this  period  dates  the  commencement  of  England's  greatness. 


ForU  J)earl^jrrh]Rehmlt,       .  85^9 

Spain,  the  lingering  power  of  the  English  on  the  lakes,  and  the 
Indian  occupation,  were  insurmountable  barriers  to  emigration. 
The  true  pioneer  spirit  now  began  in  earne.st.  The  great  chain 
of  lakes  as  a  highway  to  the  far  west,  rapidly  grew  into  import- 
ance, and  soon  became  a  rival  of  the  Ohio  river,  which  had  hith- 
erto been  the  only  road  to  the  west,  except  the  track  of  the  emi- 
grant wagon  through  the  crooked  paths  of  the  wilderness. 

Chicago  was  now  thought  of  again  with  increasing  interest — 
jiot  merely  as  a  suitable  place  for  a  fort,  which  should  command 
the  fur  trade  of  the  back  country,  but  as  the  terminus  of  a  thor- 
oughfare between  the  Ui>per  Mississippi  and  the  lakes.  "With 
this  end  in  view,  President  Madison,  in  liis  message  at  the  open- 
ing of  Congress,  in  1814,  recomiuonded  its  attention  to  the  im- 
portance of  a  ship  canal,  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan 
at  Chicago,  with  the  Illinois  river,  This  was  the  first  official 
mention  of  such  a  scheme,  however  much  it  might  have  been 
talked  of  among  the  geogra])heis  of  the  country;  and  the  next 
jear,  the  Secretary  of  War,  in  his  instructions  to  General  Harris- 
on, D.  Mc Arthur  and  John  Grahame,  recommended  the  erection 
of  military  posts,  connecting  Chicago  with  St  Louis,  by  way  of 
the  Illinois  river.*  Tlie  attention  of  the  war  department  appears 
to  have  been  ever  directed  to  the  importance  of  this  thoroughfare, 
since  its  necessity  liad  become  apparent  by  the  purchase  of  Lou- 
isiana, and  especially  after  its  practicability  had  been  assured  by 
^he  successful  termination  of  tlie  late  war  with  England.  A  year 
]ii*^er,  in  1S16,  the  war  department  gave  orders  for  the  rebuilding 
of  Ft.  Dearborn.  Captain  Ilezekiah  Bradley,  who  had  entered 
the  United  States  service  April  19th,  1814,  and  whose  honor- 
able record  had  won  confidence  in  his  abilities,  was  commissioned 
for  the  undertaking.+  As  chance  would  have  it,  he  arrived  on 
the  ground  with  liis  men  (two  companies)  on  the  4th  of  July, 
just  thirteen  years  after  his  predecessor.  Captain  Whistler,  had 
landed  with  his  men,  to  build  the  first  fort.;}: 

Thebones  of  the  victims  of  the  massacre  of  1812  still,  laid 
scattered  over  the  sand-drifts,  amongst  the  sparse  growth  of 
bunch  grass  and  stunted  shrubbery  that  grew  there,  and  thus  re- 
mained till  1822,  when  tliev  w""  r-jirefully  gathered  and  buried 
Avith  the  measured  respect  of  railit^'v  etiquette,  and  they  are 
now  a  part  of  the  dust  beneath  the  feet  of  a  countless  throng  of 
busy  citizens.  The  new  fort  was  bunt  on  the  same  spot  where  the 
first  had  stood  before  its  destruction,     it  consisted  of  a  single 

•Am.  State  Papers,  Vol.  II,  p.  13. 
tAra.  State  Papei-s,  Vol.  I,  p.  6Ji3. 

t-Tacob  B.  Varnum,  ot  Massachusetts, was  appointed  Factor,  and  Chaa.  Jouett, 
of  Virginia,  Indian  Agent.  .  » 


330  John  Kinzie  Returns  to  Chicago. 

block-hoiiBe,  immediately  east  of  which  were  barracks  for  the 
soldiers,  and  other  buildings  for  storage,  etc.,  the  whole  enclosed 
with  high  palisades.  Besides  re-building  Ft.  Dearborn,  the  gov- 
ernment sent  Major  Long  to  make  a  preliminary  survey  of  the 
rivers  between  Chicago  and  the  lUiiiois  river,  to  ascertain  the 
practicability  of  a  ship-canal  uniting  them.* 

During  the  summer,  >[r.  John  Kiiizie  returned  with  his  fam- 
ily to  Chicago.  Owing  to  tlie  friendship  which  the  Indians  had 
entertained  for  him,  his  house  had  been  spared  from  the  flames, 
and  during  his  absence  of  four  years,  a  frenchman  named  Dti- 
Pin,  resting  under  tlie  usual  immunity  from  Indian  deprudatioa 
vouchsafed  to  his  nation,  had  occupied  ]Mr.  Kinzie's  house  apart 
of  the  time  as  a  trading-station. 

The  same  year  at  St.  Louis,  an  important  treaty  was  concluded 
with  the  Indians,  as  follows: 

Treaty  with  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas  and  Pottawattomiks. 

A  treaty  of  peace,  friendship  and  limits,  made  and  coiu-ludt'd  between  Xinian 
Edwards,  William  Clark,  and  Auguste  Chonteau,  eomniissioners  plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  of  Ameriea,  on  the  piirt  and  behalf  of  said  States  of  the^ 
of  the  one  part,  and  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  united  tril)es  of  Uttawarf, 
Chippewas,  and  Pottawiittomies  residing  on  the  Illinois  and  Milwaukee  river* 
and  their  waters,  and  on  the  southwestern  parts  of  Lake  Michigan,  of  the  othftr 
part. 

Whereas,  a  serious  dispute  has  for  some  time  past,  existed  between  the  con- 
tracting parties  relative  to  the  right  to  a  part  of  the  lands  ceded  to  the  UniteiJ 
States  by  the  tribes  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxeson  the  third  day  of  Nov^r.ybe'-,  one  tho./ 
sand  eight  hundred  and  four,  and  both  parties  being  desirous  of  preserving  anbiu 

*The  following  facts  relative  to  the  topography  of  the  country  around  i'jmc?.i!.o 
in  1816,  are  taken  from  his  report  to  George  Granam,  Secretary  of  V\'ai.  Afoer 
describing  the  Illinois,  the  Desplaines  and  the  Kankakee  rivers,  he  speaks  of  the 
Chicago  river,  and  calls  it  "merely  an  arm  of  the  lake."  The  north  brancL  he 
sets  down  as  thirty  miles  long;  and  continues,  "it  receives  a  fevv  tributarit  s. 
The  south  branch  has  an  extent  of  only  five  or  six  miles,  and  has  no  supplies 
except  from  a  small  lake,"  (evidently  what  was  Mud  lake  a  few  gears  ago). 
"  The  river  and  each  of  its  branches  are  of  variable  widths,  from  iif&en  to  tifty 
yards,  and  for  two  or  three  miles  inland  have  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  to  ad- 
mit vessels  of  almost  any  burden.  The  entrance  into  Lake  Michigan,  however, 
which  is  tliifty  yards  wide,  is  obstructed  by  a  sand-bar  about  seventy  yards 
broad,  upon  the  highest  part  of  which  the  water  is  usually  no  more  than  two  ' 
feet  deep.  •  *  *  ']^\^q  water  course,  wliich  is  already  opened  between  the 
river  Desplaines  and  Chicago  river,  needs  but  little  more  excavation  to  render  it 
sufficiently  capacious  for  all  the  purposes  of  a  canal." 

The  -eportof  R.  Graham  and  Joseph  Phillips,  dated  Kankakee,  April  4, 1819. 
concludes  with  the  tollowing:  "The  route  by  the  Chicago,  as  followed  by  tlie^ 
French  since  the  discovery  of  the  Illinois,  presents  at  one  season  of  the  year  au 
uninterrupteil  water  communication  for  boats  of  six  or  eight  tons  burden,  be- 
twet  n  the  Mis.-issippi  and  the  Michigan  lake.  At  another  se<ison,  a  portage  of 
two  miles;  at  another,  a  portagi'  ot  seven  miles,  from  the  IxMid  of  the  Plica 
(Pesplaines),  to  the  arm  of  the  lake.  And  at  another  a  portage  of  fifty  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  I'lien  to  the  lake,  overwhich  there  is  a  well  beat-n  wagon- 
road.  Boats  and  their  loads  are  hauled  by  oxen  and  vehicles,  kept  for  that  pur- 
pose by  the  French  settlers  at  ("hicago. 

Am."  State  Paper,  Mis.  Vol  II,  P.  655. 


•'        Ceftsion  of  Lfiiuls.         '  '  331 

monioiiP  and  friendly  interconrBC,  and  of  establishing  permanent  peace  and 
friendship,  have,  for  the  purpose  of  removing  all  difficulties,  agreed  to  the  fol- 
lowing terms: 

A  KT.  1 .  Thesaid  chiefs  and  warriors,  for  themselves  and  the  tribes  they  repre- 
sent, agree  to  relinquish,  and  hereby  do  relinquish,  to  the  United  States, 
all  their  right,  claim  and  title  to  all  the  land  contained  in  the  b»'foro-nientionecI 
cession  of  the  S.ics  and  Foxes,  which  lies  south  of  a  due  west  line  from  tlio  south- 
ern extnmiitv  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  river.  And  they  moreover 
cede  to  the  United  States  all  the  land  contained  within  the  following  bounds, 
to  wit:  beginning  on  tHe  h'ft  bank  of  the  Fox  river  of  Illinois,  ten  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  said  Fox  river;  thence  running  so  as  to  cross  Sandy  creek  ten 
miles  above  its  mouth;  thence,  in  a  direct  line,  to  a  point  ten  miles  north  of  the 
west  end  of  the  Portiige,  between  Chicago  creek,  which  empties  into  Lakf  Mich- 
igan, and  the  river  Des  Plaines,  a  fork  of  the  Illinois;  thence  in  a  direct  line, 
to  a  point  on  lake  Michigan,  ten  miles  northward  of  the  mouth  of  Chicago^ 
creek:  thence,  along  the  lake,  to  a  point  ten  miles  southward  of  the  mouth  of 
the  said  Chicago  creek;  thence,  in  a  direct  line,  to  a  point  on  the  Kankakee,  ten 
miles  above  its  mouth;  thence,  with  the  said  Kankalcee  and  the  Illinois  river, 
to  the  mouth  of  Fox  river;  and  thence  to  the  beginning::  Provided,  neiertheless,. 
that  the  said  tribes  shall  be  permitted  to  hunt  and  to  tish  within  the  limits  of 
the  land  hereby  relinquished  and  ceded,  so  long  as  it  may  continue  to  be  the- 
property  of  the  United  States. 

Art.  2.  In  consideration  of  the  aforesaid  relinquishment  and  cession,  the 
United  States  have  this  day  delivered  to  said  tribes,  a  considerable  quantity  of 
merchandise,  and  do  agree  to  pay  them,  annually,  for  the  term  of  twelve  yeai's, 
goods  to  the  value  of  one  thousand  dollars,  reckoning  that  value  at  the  first  cost 
of  the  goods  in  the  city  or  place  in  which  they  shall  be  purchased,  without  any 
charge  for  transportation;  which  said  goods  shall  be  delivered  to  the  said  tribes 
at  some  pUice  on  the  Illinois  river,  not  lower  down  than  I'eoria.  And  the  said 
United  States  do  moreover  agree  to  relinquish  to  the  said  tribes  all  the  land  con- 
tained in  the  aforesaid  cession  of  the  Sirs  and  Foxes  which  lies  north  of  a  due 
west  line  from  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi  river, 
except  three  leagues  square  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ouisconsin  river,  including  both 
banks,  and  such  other  tracts  on  or  near  to  the  Ouisconshi  and  Mississippi  rivers 
a«  the  President  of  the  United  States  may  think  proper  to  reserve :  Froeided, 
That  such  other  tracts  shall  not,  in  the  whole,  exceed  the  quantity  that  would  be 
contained  in  five  leagues  square. 

Akt.  ;j.  The  contracting  parties,  that  peace  and  friendship  may  be  permanent, 
promise  that,  in  all  things  whatever,  they  will  act  with  justice  and  correctness 
towirds  each  other;  and  that  they  will,  with  perfect  good  faith,  fulfill  all  the- 
obligations  imposed  upon  them  by  former  treaties. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  said  Ninian  Edwards,  William  Clark  and  Auguste 
(^houteau,  commissioners  aforesaid,  and  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  afoi-esaid 
tribes,  have  hereunto  subscribed  their  names  and  affixed  their  seals,  this  twenty- 
fourth  day  cf  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  andf  sixteen,  and  of  the 
independence  of  the  United  State  the  forty-first. 

NINIAN  EDWARDS,     ' 
WILLIAM  CLARK. 
AUGUSTE  CHOUTEAU. 

[Signed  also  by  the  chiefs  and  waniors  of  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  and 
Pottowatomies.] 

Black  Partridge,  whose  name  is  now  nobly  associated  with  Chicago  history,  was^ 
then  chief  of  the  Pottowatomies,  and  signed  the  treaty. 

The  object  in  securing  this  strip  of  land  was  to  construct  a 
military  road  to  facilitate  the  building  of  the  proposed  ship  ca- 
nal. Of  all  the  Indian  treaties  ever  made,  this  will  be  remem- 
bered when  all  others,  with  their  obligations,  are  forgotten. 
"When  the  country  came  to  be  surveyed  in  sections,  inasmuch  as- 


332  Illinoi&-AdinUfcd  mt^   Tlw    Union. 

the  surveys  on  both  sides  of  tlie  treaty  lines  were  not  made  at  the 
same  time,  the  section  lines  did  not  meet  each  other,  and.  diago- 
nal offsets  along  the  entire  length  of  the  Indian  grant  M'ere  the 
result.  An  occasional  gore  of  land  is  left  open  to  discussion  as 
to  what  range  and  township  it  belongs,  and  all  sectional  maps 
must  ever  be  disfigured  with  triangular  fractions,  as  lasting  monu- 
ments of  early  Indian  power  around  Chicago. 

With  tlie  opening  of  the  3'ear  1817,  Capt.  Bradley  was  still 
busy  in  completing  the  various  appendages  to  Fort  Dearborn, 
such  a?  a  magazine  made  of  brick,  rescued  from  the  ruins  of  the 
old.  fort  factory  building,  etc.  A  commodious  parade  ground 
was  also  laid  out,  and  a  large  field  immediately  south  of  the  fort 
was  enclosed  with  a  worm  fence.  This  was  planted  with  corn 
iind  garden  vegetables  for  the  subsistence  of  the  garrison.  Ctm- 
ven  lent  gate-ways,  both  on  the  north  and  south,  gave  ingress  and 
egress.  The  block-house  itself  was  more  substantially  built  than 
the  original  one,  and  afforded  an  ample  assurance  of  safety  from 
Indian  outbreaks.  Communications  were  soon  opened  with  the 
settlements  of  Southern  Illinois,  by  the  way  of  the  south  branch 
of  the  Chicago  river,  Mud  La^'e,  the  Desjjlaines  and  Illinois  riv- 
ers. Along  this  channel  supplies  of  flour,  meat  and  other  neces- 
saries were  brought  to  the  fort  by  means  of  small  row-boats,  and 
the  short  portage  from  theDesplaines  to  the  Chicago  river.  The 
settlements  of  Southern  Illinois  had  at  that  time  attained  propor- 
tions sufficient  to  qualif\'  the  territory  for  a  state  in  the  Federal 
Union,  and  the  next  year,  1818.  Xathaniel  Pope,  delegate  to 
Congress,  applied  for  and  obtained  the  admission  of  Illinois  as  a 
eovei-eign  state.  Although  the  northern  half  of  the  state  was 
then  unsettled,  except  at  a  very  few  places;  its  importance  was 
not  overlooked  by  Mr.  Pope,  who  seemed  gifted  with  a  renuirk- 
able  intuition  into  the  future,  Illinois  as  a  territory  was  bounded 
on  the  north  by  a  line  due  west  froUi  the  southern  extremity  of 
Lake  Michigan,  as  shown  on  all  maps  previous  to  1818.  To  this 
line  Mr.  Pope  objected  for  the  following  reasons,  which  ax'e copied 
from  Ford's  History  of  Illinois; 

"By  the  Ordiiiiince  of  1787,  tlnTe  were  to  bo  not  loss  than  throe,  nor  more  thiin 
five  States  in  the  teiritory  n"rth\vost  of  tlio  Ohio  river.  Tho  boundaries  of 
those  Statos  wero  dofiiwd  by  Unit  law.  Tho  throts  Stages  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois  were  to  inolndo  tho  whole  torritory,  anil  wore  to  be  bounded  by  the 
British  possossiorK  in  Canada  on  Mn'  nmtli.  Uut  Congress  reserved  the  power, 
if  thoy  thoreatter  should  find  it  expodiont.  to  forni  one  or  two  Stat*?8  in  that 
part,  of  the  territory  which  lies  north  ot  an  oast  and  west  line  drawn  ,throutrh 
the  southerly  bond  oi  Lake  Michifran.  That  line,  it  was  gouorally  Bupposed, 
was  to  be  tho  nortii  boundary  ot  Illinois.  .ludjLre  I'ope.  sooinj?  that  the  [)ort  of 
Chicago  was  north  of  that  (lino,  and  would  bo  oxoludod  by  it  iroin  the  Htato, 
and  that  the  Illinois  and  Michitran  canal  (which  Wiw  then  contomplatod)  would 
issue  from  CJhioiuro,  to  connect  the  grout  uortliorn  lakes  with  tho  Mis.sissipni, 
^^ind  thus  Im'  partly  within  and  partly  without  tho  St.ato  of  Illinois,  waslhoreby 
lad  to  a  critical  examination  of  tlio  Onlinanro,  which  ro.sidl«l  in  a  eioar  and 


Predictions   h\tl filled.  33$ 

satisfiictoiy  convidion,tliat  it  was  com|ieti'nt  lor  Ci^nnrress  to  extend  the  houn- 
darics  of  a  new  Stato  as  lar  north  ;is  th<\v  jileascd  ;  and  he  found  no  ciiiiiculty  in 
convinciii^i-  oth'Ts  of  tlie  corrcitness  of  his  views. 

But  there  were  other  and  much  Diore  weighty  reasons  for  this  change  of 
boundary,  which  were  ably  and  successfully  urjred  by  Judjje  Pope  upcu  t!.e  at- 
tention of  Con<:ress.  It  was  known  that  in  all  cimfederated  repnhlies  tln.Ti'  was 
danjjer  of  dissolution.  The  frreat  valley  of  tlu!  Mi-sissippi  was  tilling  up  with  u 
numerous  people  ;  the  orijrinal  conlederaey  hail  ah-eady  advanced  westwiird  a 
thousand  miles,  across  the  chain  of  uKJuntains  vkirtin;,'  the  Atlantic;  the  adjoin- 
ing i^tates  in  the  western  country  were  watered  by  rivers  running  from  every 
point  of  the  compass,  converging  to  a  focus  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  at  Cairo  ;  the  waters  of  tlie  Oliio.  ("niiilteri.nid  and  Tennessee  rivers, 
carried  much  of  the  commerce  of  Alal)ania  anil  Tennessee,  all  of  Kentucky,  con- 
siderable T)ortions  of  tliat  of  Virginia.  Pennsylv,in;;i  anil  New  York,  and  the 
greater  portion  of  the  conmierce  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  down  l)y  the  Point  at 
Cairo,  (situate  in  the  extreme  south  of  Illinois.;  when^  it  would  be  met  by  the 
commerce  to  and  from  the  lower  Mississippi  with  all  the  States  and  territories 
to  be  formed  in  the  immensi'  countrv  on  the  Missouri,  and  extending  to  tlm 
head  waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Illinois  had  a  coast  of  \hO  miles  on  the  Ohio- 
river,  and  nearly  as  much  on  the  Wabash  ;  the  Mississippi  was  its  western 
boundary  for  the  whole-  length  of  the  Staie  ;  the  commerce  of  all  the  western 
country  was  to  pass  by  its  shores,  and  would  necessarily  come  to  a  focus  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  at  a  jioint  within  this  State,  and  within  the  c  introl  of  Illi- 
nois, if,  the  Union  being  dissolved,  she  should  see  proper  to  control  it.  It  was 
foreseen  that  none  of  the  .^reat  States  in  the  west  could  venture  to  aid  in  dis- 
solving the  Union,  without  cultivating  a  State  situate  in  such  a  central  and 
commanding  jiosition. 

AVhat  then  was  the  duty  of  the  national  government  ?  Illinois  was  certain  to 
be  I  great  State,  with  any  boundaries  which  that  government  coukl  give.  Its 
gi  at  extent  of  territory,  its  unrivalled  fertility  of  soil,  and  <.ai)acity  for  sustain- 
ing a  dense  population,  together  with  its  coramandiiig  ])ositioii,  would  in  course 
of  time  give  the  new  State  a  very  controlling  intluence  with  her  sister  States 
situate  ujion  ti:e  western  rivers,  either  in  sustaining  the  federal  union  aa  it  is, 
or  in  dissolving  it,  and  establishing  new  governments.  If  left  entirely  upon 
the  waters  of  these  great  rivers,  it  was  plain  that,  in  case  of  threatened  disrup- 
tion, the  interest  of  the  new  State  would  be  to  join  a  suutliern  and  wosieru  con- 
federacy. But  if  a  large  portion  of  it  could  be  maiii!  dependent  upon  the  com- 
meice  and  navigation  of  the  great  northern  lakes,  comiected  as  they  are  with 
the  eastern  States,  a  rival  interest  would  be  created,  to  check  the  wish  for  a 
western  and  southern  confederacy. 

It  therefore  became  the  duty  of  the  natiomd  government,  not  only  to  make 
Illinois  strong,  but  to  raise  an  interest  inclining  and  binding  her  to  tin-  eastern 
and  northern  portions  of  the  Union.  This  could  be  done  only  throuj.'h  an  in- 
terest in  the  lakes.  At  that  time  the  commerce  on  the  lakes  was  small,  but  its 
increase  was  confidently  expected,  and  indeed  it  has  exceeded  all  anticipationH, 
and  is  yet  only  in  its  infancy.  To  accomplish  this  object  ett'ectually,  it  was  not 
oidy  necessary  to  give  to  Illinois  the  port  of  Chicago  and  a  route  for  the  canal, 
but  a  considerable  coast  on  Lake  Michigan,  with  a  country  back  of  it  sufficiently 
extensive  to  contain  a  )>opulation  capable  of  exercisinp  a  decided  intluence  upon 
the  councils  of  the  State. 

There  would,  therefore,  be  a  large  commerce  of  the  north,  western,  and  cen- 
ti'al  portions  of  the  State  afloat  on  the  lakes,  for  it  was  then  foreseen  that  the 
canal  wonld  he  made  ;  and  this  alone  wwuld  be  like  turning  one  of  the  many 
mouths  of  the  Mississippi  into  Lake  Michigan  at  (Jhicago.  A  very  large  com- 
merce of  the  centre  and  south  would  be  tounii.  both  up«;  tho  lakes  and  the 
rivers.  Associations  in  business,  in  iaterest,  and  of  friendship,  ''  .uiH  be  formed, 
both  with  thfi  north  and  the  south.  A  State  thus  nituated.  having  such  a  de- 
cided interest  in  the  commerce,  and  in  the  preservation  of  the  whole  confeder- 
acy, can  never  consent  to  disunion  ;  for  the  Union  cannot  be  dissolved  without 
a  division  and  disruption  of  the  State  itaclf.    These  views,   urged  by  Judge 


-334  -  The  Central  Key. 

Pope,  obtained  the  unc[;.alified  assent  of  the  statesmen  of  1S18  ;  and  this  feature 
of  the  bill,  for  the  admission  of  Illinois  into  the  Union,  met  the  unanimous  ap- 
probation of  both  houses  of  Congrress.  " 

That  the  wisdom  of  Mr.  Pope  has  been  amply  verified  by  events 
Avhich  have  transpired  since  1860,  is  apparent  to  every  one.  The 
interest  of  Cliicac^o  was  united  by  the  strongest  ties  which  com- 
mercial relations  conld  bind,  both  to  the  north  and  the  south,  and 
had  the  southern  limits  of  Wisconsin  inchided  the  city  of  Chi- 
cago,  the  State  of  Illinois  w-ould  have  been  under  the  complete 
control  of  sonthern  influences  diiring  the  earlv  stages  of  the 
rebellion,  with  bnt  slender  ties  to  bind  her  to  the  north.  On  the 
hypothesis  that  this  IState  turned  the  scale  in  favor  of  the  Union 
when  the  question  trembled  in  the  balance,  the  geographical  })o- 
sition  of  Chicago  may,  with  no  impropriety,  be  called  the  centre 
key  of  tlie  nation.  Such  it  was  deemed  by  Mr.  Pope  when  the 
]ilace  had  but  two  white  families  as  residents — John  Kinzie  and 
()ni1imette;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  thiit  t(j  the  broad-guage 
spirit  of  Chicago,  I'tjpresentatives  in  the  councils  of  the  nation, 
the  administration  has  sometimes  looked  for  support  in  issues 
of  difficult  solution.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  the  posi- 
tions which  have  from  tiine  to  time  been  taken  by  the  people  of 
Chicago  on  the  vita!  questions?  of  the  day,  have  been  sustained  in 
our  national  ]iolicy  (not  necessarily  because  (Miicago  came  to  their 
support),  but  because  her  peo])le  were  sufficiently  co&mo])olitaii 
to  comprehend  the  situation,  and  see  at  the  lirst  glance  the  real 
wants  of  thrs  nation,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  within  her  toils, 
the  East,  the  South  and  the  far  West  are  drawn. 

At  this  time  the  Mississippi  r'ver  was  teeming  with  flat  boats 
engage<l  in  the  carrying  trade  '  western  productions  to  market, 
by  the  way  of  New  Orleans.  IS.a  hundred  ami  forty-three  of 
these  rude  vessels  were  counted  by  a  passenger,  in  his  passage  by 
steamboat  up  the  river,  on  a  trip  in  1818.* 

This  early  channel  of  western  commerce  has  now  a  rival  along 
our  lakes,  which  has  already  eclipsed  it  in  importance,  and  points 
to  their  sliores  as  the  future  metropolitan  centres  of  trade  and 
artisanship. 


*NUe»  Eegiste     'ol.  XIV,  p.  344. 


CHAPTER    XXL 

The  Fur  Trade  of  Canada  Under  a  French  Charter — Tht 
Huguenot  Sailors — Dutch  Rivalry — The  Hudson  BayCom- 
jpany — The  Northwest  Company  Its  Rival — The  Tico  Com- 
panies Merged  into  One  —  The  American  Fur  Company 
under  John,  Jacob  Axtor — Astoria  Founded,  and  Til^en  hy 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company— Mr.  Astor  Begins  Aneio  at 
Maclinaw — Hardihood  of  the  Engagees  —  The  Am.ericcii. 
Fur  Comfany  Estahlish  a.  Branch  at  Chicago — Gurdon  S. 
Huhhord  as  Clerk  for  the  American  Fur  Company — Arrives 
at  Chicago — His  Report  of  the  Place — Descends  the  Des- 
plaines—His  Report  of  the  Indians  and  their  Wigwams — 
Hostile  Repartee  with  an  Indian — 7yic  Factory  System  — 
First  Wedding  in  Chicago — Great  Indian  Treaty  at  Chi- 
cago— Governor  Cass  Opens  the  Council — Three  Thousand 
Indians  Eat  Rations  at  Government  Expense — Speech  of 
Metea—rColonel  E.  Childs''  Description  of  tlie  Country. 

Soon  after  CliamjJain  liad  made  the  first  permanent  settlement 
of  Canada  at  Quebec,  in  1608,  it  became  evident  to  his  patron 
sovereign,  tlie  Freneli  kinj;,  that  tlie  fur  trade  was  the  great  sec- 
uhir  interest  of  the  countrv.  Indeed,  its  majrnilude  was  too 
teiii]»ting  a  bait  even  for  the  conrt  of  Franco,  and  it  compronii>e(l 
its  dignity  by  establishing  a  control  over  it  by  which  it  should 
reap  a  portion  of  its  profits.  Accordingly  the  companj  of  St. 
]\I;iio  was  formed,  with  chartered  rights.  ])aying  a  tribute  to  the 
French  king,  ofiset  with  j)!enarv  power  to  dole  out  privileges  to 
the  miserable  courier  du  hois  of  (Canada  to  obtain  furs  as  liest 
they  could,  and  sell  them  to  the  company  at  stipulated  prices. 
Serious  abuses  soon  grew  out  of  this  monopoly,  and  the  king  was 
».tl)ligcd  to  cast  about  for  more  comjM'tent  uumi  with  whom  to  en- 
trust the  patent,  or,  rather,  men  who  would  not  abuse  the  trust 
hy  conniving  at  a  contraband  trade  and  sharing  its  illegitimate 
pn»fits.  Mow  the  king  was  in  a  dilemma.  It  was  all  important 
to  him  that  Caimdu  sliuuid  liave  no  taiiit  of  heresy  (which  meant 


330  Th^  HvfJff>7i  Boy  ComjMcn.y. 

Pr(it('staiitism\  aiul  \vX  aiiioiii;  all  liis  subjects  it  was  difficult,  it' 
not  impospibU'.  always  to  select  material  tor  ])>>sitiiiiis  of  trust 
without  recourse  to  the  Huguenots,  who  really  were  composed 
of  the  most  etHcieiit  men  of  France  at  t';at  time.  Under  thi.s 
pressure,  two  Huguenot  brothers,  the  DeCaens,  were  appointed 
to  succeed  the  company  of  St.  Malo  in  1(121.  They  immediately 
sailed  for  Quebec,  and  as  might  be  sup])osed,  enlisted  a  crew^  of 
Huguenot  sailors  to  man  their  vessels  for  the  carrying  trade.  All' 
went  smootlily  till  their  arrival. at  Quebec,  where  the  psalm  siii'.'-- 
ing  and  ])rayer  of  the  customary  morning  and  evening  devotii'i  -i 
of  these  Conscientious  seamen  oti"en<led  the  priests,  as  well  as 
Cliamplain,  tlie  governor.*  Here  was  a  fresh  difficulty,  that 
threatened  a  dead-lock  cm  the  start;  but  the  matter  \vas  compro- 
mised by  allowing  the  sailors  to  pray  as  usual,  but  not  to  indnlgi- 
in  psalmody  while  in  the  luirbor  of  Quebec;  "A  bad  bargain.''' 
said  Cliamplain,  the  governor,  "but  the  best  I  could  make." 
Under  these  auspices  the  fur  trade  was  resumed,  and  it  soon 
brought  increased  revenues  to  the  civjwn.  Traders  and  priests 
advanced  into  the  wilds — tlie  former  to  gather  crops  of  furs,  and 
the  latter  crops  of  souls.  These  were  the  incentives  which  pusluMJ 
French  discovery  into  the  upper  lakes,  and  over  the  prairies  an<l 
into  the  forests,  where  now  crops  of  corn,  instead  of  furs,  are  har- 
vested. 

The  next  drawback  that  affected  the  Canadian  fur  trade,  was 
the  rivalship  of  the  Dutch  at  Albany.  They  could  'buy  in  tht^ 
elieapest  market  and  sell  in  the  dearest,  unshackeled  by  royal 
tributes.  This  competition  augmented  the  animosity  wiiich 
nationality  and  religion  had  already  enkindled  between  the  Cana- 
dian and  English  settlements,  and  it  was  fanned  to  a  flame  in 
1754,  when  the  French  and  Indian  war  commeiu'ed. 

This  war  having  resulted  triumphantly  to  the  English,  in  1755) 
the  wliole  fur  trade  fell  into  their  handa  as  soon  as  they  could 
take  possession  of  the  immense  country  then  embraced  within 
tlie  limits  of  New  France,  and  thus  remained  till  the  American 
Revolution  had  shorn  from  them  the  fairest  portions  of  their  late 
con<|uest.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  tlie  immensity  of  the 
English  possession  in  those  far  northern  regions  that  grow  the 
l)est  furs  still  ensured  to  the  English  the  fur  trade  with  no 
diminution  in  its  volume.  The  English  company  engaged  in  it 
was  chartered  in  lf)70,  under  the  name  of  The  Hudson  Jiay  Com- 
pany, It  had  no  rival  till  one  sprung  into  existence  in  IHO."!, 
called  the  North  West  Company.  The  latter  pushe<l  their  trade 
into  forest  recluses  never  before  entered  by  white  men,  carrying 
tlie  Indian  trade  to  remote   Indian   lodges  with   a   success  that 

■^^^^■-■■■'  —     —    .         I  —     ...jfc..-.      _      mil     II  ■     '       .1. ■■         1.111  in.  I  I,         I  a.r.  .1  I       ■         111  I  — _j_ 

•1\.  verify  this,  the  reader  is  referred  to  any  detailed  history  of  New  Frunce. 


Tlte  Anil  I'h'idi  I'^nr    ('oiiijxm ij.  337 

astonished  the  old  coii)])iiny,  and  in  a  few  years  forced  them  to 
take  in  the  new  company  as  partners.  Tims  the  two  rival  inter- 
ests were  merged  into  one  stupendous  hod}',  nnder  direction  of 
the  most  wealthy  and  influential  lords  of  the  British  reahn. 

Tims  matters  stood  till  1809,  when  John  -lacol)  Astor,  of  ]S'cw 
York,  formed  the  bold  design  of  hearding  the  British  Lion  in 
his  den,  by  establishing  The  American  Fur  Company,  under  a 
charter  fmm  the  State  of  iSTew  York,  The  tirst  stejis  to  be  taken 
in  the  grand  designs  of  this  company,  -was  to  establish  a  povman- 
ent  station  on  the  Paciflc  Coast,  at  a  locality  whicli  could  com- 
mand the  Ilussian  trade  as  well  as  that  of  tlie  Indians  along  the 
coast.  Tlie  flrst  shi])  destined  for  this  enterprise,  sailed  from 
K^ew  York  in  Sept.  IS  10.  doubled  Cape  Horn,  and  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  the  next  year.  A  fort  was  built 
and  named  Astoria,  in  honor  of  the  illustrious  man  v.'ho  con- 
ceived  the  enterpi'ise.  As  might  be  supposed,  the  Hudson  Bay 
compan}'  looked  upon  this  venture  as  a  piece  of  unjiaralleied 
audacity,  especially  inasmuch  as  the  English  at  that  time  claimed 
Oregon  as  their  own  territory,  and  they  set  themselves  about  the 
accomplishment  of  the  ruin  of  their  fearless  rival.  The  next 
year,  1812,  a  pretext  was  (»tf'ered  them,  to  fnifill  this  design  by 
the  American  declaration  of  war  atrainst  Kniiland.  AVhen  the 
Hudson  J]ay  Co.  learned  this  they  attacked  Astoria,  took  the  Amer- 
icans prisonei-s,  took  possession  of  the  station,  and  changed  its 
name  to  Fort  Ge*)rge.  This  was  a  severe  blow  to  ]\[r.  ,\stor, 
but  he  was  by  no  means  disheartened;  no  further  ste]>s  could 
be  taken  to  ii'])air  the  damages  while  the  Avar  lasted,  especially  as 
the  British  fleet  swept  the  lakes,  and  their  emissaries  were  almost 
omnipresent  among  the  nortlu'rn  tribes  of  Indians  along  these 
waters.  But  as  soon  as  the  war  had  closed,  Mr.  Astor,  with  char- 
acteristic energy,  determined  to  begin  anew,  and  established  his 
lieadcjuarters  at  'Mackinaw,  as  a  base  of  operations.  This  was  an 
undertaking  not  le^s  Itold  than  arduous.  A  bmall  army  of  men 
must  be  employed  to  carry  on  the  ojicrations  of  the  com])any, 
from  every  one  of  whom  were  expected  services  which  would  be 
looked  upon  as  too  hard  for  the  efl'emiiiate  men  of  our  day.  Even 
the  confldential  clerks  Mdio  took  charge  of  the  goods,  enjoyed 
no  immunity  from  the  hardships  of  camp  life  in  the  wildi'niess, 
where  the  wolves  prowled  around  their  camp,  and  the  owls  talked 
and  laughed  with  them  at  midnight.*  Haj)j)ily  for  ilr.  Astor, 
there  was  already  an  eflicieat  force  in  the  field,  who  had  hitherto 
acted,  each  one  for  himself,  without  the  advantages  which  come- 


*Tlu'so  Iiirds  ■will  answiT  a  hmii;m  voice  in  tin'  stilliiess  of  the  nijflit,  and 
give  lioots  in  surli  <|uick  sinMcssiun  us  to  resemble  laughing,  which  fact  is  aacer- 
toineii  tVum  persunul  ejcperiunca  uf  tku  writer. 


338  The  Engagees.  i 

from  large  and  concerted  movements,  and  were  ready  to  co-oper- 
ate with  liini,  inasmuch  as  he  could  make  it  for  there  interest  to 
do  so. 

Ramsey  Crooks  and  Robert  Stuart  were  selected  from  these,  to 
whom  was  given  the  control  of  the  whole  Northwest.  From 
Hichilimackinac,  their  base  ot'uj)erations.  they  sent  men  into  every 
nook  and  corner  of  their  ten-itorj,  where  the  Indian  and  the 
beaver  lived  and  grew. 

At  ]\[ontreal  they  established  a  house  under  charge  of  Mr. 
j\[athews,  to  enlist  the  men  for  service,  both  as  clerks  and  voy- 
ageurs.  The  latter  manned  the  boats  called  batteaux,  into  which 
the  goods  were  packed  and  rowed  to  the  various  stations  through- 
out  the  wilderness,  at  which  places  they  were  unloaded,  and  tlie  bat- 
teaux tilled  with  furs  to  be  sent  on  their  return  trip  to  Mackinaw. 
Their  record  forms  a  page  in  our  history  never  to  be  reproduced. 
Their  daily  mutine  was  hard  labor  in  rowing  the  heav}*  laden 
batteaux  or  carrvinir  them  and  their  freiirhts  across  portaws. 
At  night  the  i"oc»f  that  covered  the»n  was  the  sky,  their  bed  the 
earth,  and  they  were  ha])py.  They  were  all  Canadian  French, 
trained  to  servilitv,  and  toii<>;hened  into  almost  incredible  endur- 
ance  l)v  hard  usage.  The  Hon.  James  II.  Lockwood,*  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,  in  a  ]ia])er  read  before  the  State  Wisconsin  Ilistorial 
(Society  savs  of  them : 

The  traders  and  their  clerks  were  then  the  aristocracy  of  the  countrj- :  and  to 
a  Yankee  at  fii-st  sijrlit.  iiresontod  a  sinyular  state  of  society.  To  see  g'entleiiit'u 
aelectinj;  wives  of  the  nut-brown  natives,  and  rai-ir.o:  children  of  mixed  blood, 
the  traders  and  clerks  living  in  as  much  luxury  as  the  resources  of  the  country 
would  admit,  and  the  oigngees  or  boatmen  livinjr  upon  soup  made  of  hulled 
corn  with  barely  tallow  enou<.di  to  season  it,  devoid  of  salt,  unless  they  pur- 
chased it  themselves  at  a  hiirh  price — all  this  to  an  American  was  a  novel  mode 
of  living-,  and  appeared  to  lie  hard  fare  ;  but  to  a  person  acquainted  with  tlie  hiibits 
of  hie  of  the  Canadian  peasantry,  it  would  not  look  so  much  out  of  the  way,  as 
they  live  mostly  on  pea  soup,  seasoned  with  a  piece  of  ])Qrk  boiled  down  to 
grease,  seldom  eating  pork  except  in  the  form  of  grease  that  seasons  their 
soup.  With  this  soup,  and  a  piece  of  coarse  bread,  their  meals  were  made  ; 
hence  the  clumge  from  pea  soup  to  corn  is  not  so  great,  or  the  fare  much  worse 
than  that  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  as  the  corn  is  more  substantial 
than  peas,  not  being  so  flatulent.  These  men  engaginl  in  Canada  generally 
for  five  years  for  Mackinaw  and  its  dependencies,  trai.st'erable  like  cattle  to  any 
one  who  wanted  them,  at  generally  about  5(i0  livres  a  year,  or  in  our  currency, 
about  $8.'5  M:> ;  furnished  with  a  yearly  equipment  or  outfit  of  two  cotton  shirts, 
one  three  point  or  triangular  lilanket,  a  portage  collar,  and  one  pair  of  beef 
shoes  ;  being  obliged,  in  the  Indian  country  to  purchase  their  inoccasins,  to- 
bacco, pipes,  and  other  necessaries,  at  the  price  the  trader  saw  fit  to  chargt^  tor 
tliem.  (ieiierally  at  the  end  of  five  yeiirs.  these  poor  loi/ai/Du-s  v,ow  in  ilebt 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  and  Inly  ddllars.  and  could  not  leave  tiie  country 
until  they  had  paid  their  indebteiluess  ;  and  the  policy  of  the  traders  was.  to 

"Mr.  Lfx'kwond  w:.-  Ijorii  in  CHntoii.  N.  Y.,  In  ITM.  He  emifrrateil  t.i  'Jn'oii  Kav  in  isl  •, 
atiii  lias  ever  snice  been  a  resident  el  WIscdusiii  or  JUinnis,  always  liviiis  a  tompoiatc  lil'e, 
imd  always  a  (^tcadfa^t  champion  ol'ju-.tice. 


Chieaffo  Branch  of  The  American  Fur  Company.    339 

keep  as  many  of  them  in  the  conntiy  as  they  could  :  and  to  this  end  they  al- 
lowed and  encouragrcd  their  euqagees  to  get  in  debt  during  the  five  years,  which 
of  necessity  required  them  to  remain. 

These  new  hands  were  bv  the  old  toi/af/eiirs  called  in  derision,  maiir/eiirs  de 
lard — pork-eaters — as  on  leaving  Montreal,  and  on  the  route  to  Mackinaw, 
they  were  fed  on  pork,  hard  bread,  and  pea  soup,  while  the  old  rr  i/ai/eurs  in 
ti  e  Indian  country  ate  corn  souj'.  and  such  other  food  as  could  conveniently  be 
procured.*  Tiiese  mani]e>irs  de  lard  were  brought  at  considerable  expense  and 
trouble  from  Montreal  and  other  parts  of  Canada,  frequently  deserting  after 
they  had  received  souk;  advance  in  money  and  their  equipment.  Hence  it  wa.s 
the  object  of  the  traders  to  keej)  as  many  ot  tlieold  voiia'jvurs  in  the  country  as 
they  could,  and  they  generally  permitted  the  iiiaiif/eiirti  de  lard  to  get  largely 
in  debt,  as  they  could  not  leave  the  country  and  i:et  back  into  Canada,  except 
by  the  return  boats  or  canoes  which  V)rought  the  goods,  rnd  they  would  not 
take  them  back  if  they  were  in  debt  anywhere  in  the  country,  which  could  be 
eanly  ascertained  from  the  traders  at  Mackinaw. 

Tiie  whole  eoiintrv  at  tliat  time  was  divided  into  districts  by 
the  American  Fur  Company,  each  havini^  a  i)rincij)al  director 
who  superintended  the  clerks  and  voyaguers  detailed  to  his  sta- 
tion from  the  ]>arent  office  at  Mackinaw,  allottint^  to  each  his 
especial  territory.  ^ 

In  the  year  ISIT,  the  enterprising  house  of  Conant  &  ^fack, 
whose  headquarters  were  at  Detroit,  had  estal)lished  a  branch 
fur  trading  station  at  Lee's  place,  on  the  south  bi-ancli  of  the 
Chicago  river,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  John  Crafts. 
AVhen  the  American  Fur  Company  came  to  establish  a  branch  at 
Chicago  soon  afterwards,  a  rivalry  of  interests  Wduld  have  fol- 
lowed immediately  if  both  estai)lishments  had  kept  on;  but 
rather  than  attempt  this,  the  Detroit  honse  sold  out  to  the  Amer- 
ican company,  who  in  turn  emjiloyed  their  men  at  once,  inas- 
much as  they  were  on  the  ground,  ajid  familiar  with  the  reipiired 
<luties.  To  Mr.  Crafts  was  given  the  superintendence  of  the  post 
at  Chicago,  as  apart  of  the  bargain,  and  the  former  agent  of  the 
<'onipany,  Mr.  John  Baptiste  I'eanbien  was  displaced.  Mr. 
Craft's  territory  included  the  IJock  river  and  Fox  river  countries, 
besides  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Chicairo. 

Among  the  nuist  elticient  agents  of  the  comjiany  was  Antoine 
Dechamps.  This  gentleman  had  the  agencv  of  the  whole  iState 
of  Illinois,  except  the  }>ortion  taken  out  for  the  Chicago  Agency. 
Fie  was  a  man  of  education  and  talents,  both  versatile  and  etlec- 
tive.  If  any  imposing  ceremonies  amdiig  the  Catholics  were  to 
have  place,  the  priests  always  invited  him  to  take  a  part,  and  his 
counsels  were  equally  sought  after  by  the  Indians  who  could 
readily  discriminate  between  minds  of  high  and  low  degree. 
lie  was  one  of  the  lirst  fmmders  of  ()pa(IVoria\  at  which  jdace 
he  had  been  a  law-giver  and  kind  of  deputy  priest  among  his 
]>eople,  the  F^rencli,   j)revious  to   its  relentless  destruction   iin- 

*  The  experienced  ro//(>.9t'Hrs  are  called /(iioma/<s  or  uiiiterer^s,  according  to 
Snelling''s  work  on  the  Northwest.  •  L.  C.  I> 


340  Early  Days  of  a  Chicago  P'(ouccr.  - 

der  Captain  Craii^,  as  spoken  of  in  a  previons  cliapter.  As  agont 
of  the  American  Fur  Co.,  Mr.  DeCliamp's  liead-qnarters  W'^rt- 
located  at  various  convenient  ]>laces  in  sontliern  Illinois. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Chicago  and  the  contiguons  country 
in  1S18,  as  reported  by  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  wlio  is  at  tliis  time. 
1880,  a  well  loiown  citizen  and  living  witness  among  us.  At 
that  time  he  was  a  lad  in  his  lOtli  year,  residing  at  Montreal 
with  his  parents.  Anxious  to  get  into  the  fur  trade  lie  offered 
his  services  as  clerk  to  Mr.  Mathews,  its  agent  there.  His  youth 
was  an  objection,  and  no  encouragement  was  given  him.  But  by 
dint  of  perseverance,  during  the  winter  of  1817-8,  Mr.  Mathews 
finally  agreed  to  take  him  providing  his  father  would  sign  the 
indenture  papers  binding  him  to  serve  the  company  iive  yearn, 
at  §120.00  per  year.  He  did  not  believe  the  father  would  sign 
an  Indenture  by  wL  Ji  his  son  was  to  he  taken  into  the  wilds,  out 
of  the  reach  of  his  protecting  care.  Xor  did  the  father  believe 
that  Mr.  ]\Iathews  would  take  so  young  a  stripling  into  a  rough 
service  \thich  required  a  more  tenacious  pith  than  sixteen  years 
would  he  a^^le  to  furnish.  But  between  the  nuitual  doubt  of 
both  the  contracting  parties,  by  making  the  bond  contingent 
from  one  to  the  other,  young  Gurdon  managed  to  lobby  his  bill 
through  both  houses  and  became  duly  engaged  for  a  live  years' 
term. 

On  the  13th  of  May,  1818,  every  thing  was  ready,  and  the 
clerks  and  voyagers,  130  in  all,  started  in  thirteen  batteaux,  bound 
for  Mackinaw.  Their  way  lay  up  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  and 
along  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  to  Toronto,  thence  by  a  portage  to 
Lake  Simcoe,  crossing  which  another  portage  was  madefojSTot- 
awasauga  river,  down  whicli  they  rowed  to  lake  Huron,  thence 
along  its  northern  shore  to  Mackinaw.  Here  they  arrived  on  the 
4th  of  July,  and  young  Hubbard  was  immediately  set  at  work  in 
the  warehouse  till  the  middle  of  September.  He  was  then  de- 
tailed into  the  Illinois  brigade,  under  ^[r.  DeChamps,  and  start- 
ed for  his  destination  alonir  the  eastern  shore  of  lake  Michigan. 
Doubling  its  southern  extretnity,  his  ]>arty,  consisting  of  about 
100  men  and  twelve  batteaux,  containing  the  goods,  arrived  at 
Chicago  about  the  first  of  November,  1818. 

Here  Mr.  John  Kinzie  lived  in  the  house  he  first  occupied 
before  the  massacre,  following  his  occupation  of  silversmith,  rely- 
ing chiefly  on  the  Indians  for  patronage.  No  wonder  these 
simple  children  of  nature  looked  upon  him  who  could  make  and 
repair  tire  locks  for  their  guns  as  a  marvelous  ])rodigy  as  well  as 
an  indispensable  man  among  them.  These  mechanical  accom- 
plishments, associated  as  they  Vv'ere  with  ability  to  ^ive  wise 
counsel  tempered  with  the  spirit  of  justice,  placed  Mr.  'vinzie  so 
high  in   the  estimation   of  his  swarthy  friends,  that  his   social 


The  Portage  Throwjh   Mnd  Lahe.  8-il 

position  had  transcended  tlie  angrv  passions  of  war,  as  already 
^hown  in  precedinii^  pages.  His  fauuly  consisted  of  Jolin  il., 
who  has  ever  since  lived  at  Chicago  till  his  death  in  1805.*  and 
Avas  highly  esteemed  as  one  of  her  able  business  men;  Eleanor, 
Avho  afterwards  married  Alexander  Wolcott,  Indian  agent,  and 
iVIaria,  who  married  General  Hunter,  and  is  now  living  with  her 
linsband  at  "Washington ;  Robert  A.  late  United  States  paymaster 
3it  Chicago,  who  died  Dec.  13th,  1873,  and  was  buried  in  Grace- 
land  Cemetery,  and  Mrs.  Hehn,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Kinzie  by  her 
iirst  husband.  Her  father,  Captain  McKillip,  was  an  officer  in 
the  British  service  at  the  time  of  Wayne's  campaign.  Besides 
the  Kinzie  family  was  the  family  of  Antoine  Oiiilimette,  a  French- 
man, with  a  Pottawatomie  wife  and  four  children:  J.  B.  Beau- 
bien  was  then  awav  on  some  tour  throujjh  the  country,  and  these 
two  families,  besides  the  garrison,  conijjosed  the  entire  ])opulation 
■of  Chicago,  except  the  Indians,  who  at  that  time  were  far  more 
numerous  than  the  whites,  throusjhout  the  entire  countrv.  And 
had  they  been  told  that  the  new  comers  would  eventually  crowd 
tiiem  out  and  occupy  the  country  themselves,  such  a  prediction 
would  have  been  received  with  no  small  measure  of  astonishment 
tmd  indignation. 

After  resting  at  Chicago  three  days,  during  which  time  young 
Hubbard  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Kinzie,  he  started  with  his  party 
for  their  destination,  which  was  the  territory  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Mr.  DeChamps.  The  batteaux  were  again  loaded, 
and  they  piddled  up  the  tranquil  waters  of  the  s^uth  branch  of 
the  Chicago  river,  sending  tiny  ripples  among  the  tall  grasses  on 
each  bank  of  the  stream,  which  were  thea  but  a  monotonons  al- 
luvial of  mud,  in  no  respect  different  from  what  they  were  when 
Marquette  first  passed  tliem,  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  and 
two  months  before.  After  rowing  about  to  the  present  site  of 
liridgeport.  a  portage  had  to  be  made  to  the  Desplaines.  This 
was  a  laborious  task.  The  water  was  unusually  low,  and  mud 
lake,  the  natural  estuary  between  the  two  streams,  was  an  unin- 
Titing  suc^-ession  of  mud-liars  and  stagnant  pools,  where  sun  fish, 
frogs  and  tadjioles  were  huddled  together  in  close  quarters.  See- 
ing the  work  before  them,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  encamp 
till  the  portage  could  he  made  without  damage  to  the  store  of 
goods  of  which  their  freight  consisted.  This  done,  package  after 
l>acka<;e  was  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  the  men  nine  miles  to 
the  banks  of  the  Desplaines.  The  empty  batteaux  were  polled 
or  dragged  through  Mud  lake  and  transported  to  the  Desplainvs 

*He  died  June  21st,  on  liOiud  tiie  cars,  near  Pittsburgh.  He  had  conversed 
in  his  usual  vein  of  apreealileness  to  the  hist  moment;  and  was  i.n  the  act  of 
g'iving  ahns  to  a  poor  woman,  when  he  expired  without  warning. 


3:1:2  Indian  Architect ure. 

with  the  goods,  but  not  without  many  a  heavy  strain.  After  the 
portage  was  made  and  the  ])arty  were  gliding  down  tlie  Des- 
pLaines,  congratulating  themselves  that  they  should  meet  no  mure 
obstructions  on  their  way,  they  suddenly  came  upon  sand-bars  in 
the  river  that  in  its  low  stage  of  water  extended  from  shore  to 
shore,  and  the  goods  had  to  be  again  taken  out  of  the  batteaux 
and  carried  over  them,  as  well  as  the  batteaux  themselves.  By 
these  tardy  advances  the  Illinois  river  was  finally  reached,  down 
M'hich  they  paddled  their  way  to  tiiially  disband  into  small 
parties,  each  otl  which  had  some  particular  station  allottcnl  to 
them  respectively,  as  a  trading  post  under  the  general  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  DeChamps,  the  agent. 

The  Pottawatomies  were  then  the  all-prevailing  Indian  power 
of  central  and  northern  Illinois.  Their  principal  village  was 
near  the  present  site  of  Utica,  on  the  Illinois  river,  and  numbered 
about  2000  inhabitants.  At  the  mouth  of  the  Mazon  river  they 
had  a  village  of  700  inhabitants,  of  which  "Wabansie  was  chiefs 
They  also  had  villages  at  Cashe  Island  on  the  Desplaines,  at  Mount 
Jolicl,  Kankakee,  and  various  other  places  besides  Chicago,  all  of 
which  Mr.  Hubbard  reports  with  accurate  details  of  their  social  con- 
ditions, and  the  style  of  their  architecture,  if  an  Indian  camp- 
deserves  that  name.  They  were  made  of  Hags,  woven  and  lapped 
ingeniously  together,  like  a  web  of  cloth.  This  was  wound  around 
a  trame  work  of  poles  set  up  in  a  tripod,  or  rounded  at  the  top 
and  bent  over  so  as  to  form  a  cone-shaped  roof.  Through  this  an 
aperture  was  made  at  the  top  for  the  smoke  to  escape.  The  tlooi- 
consisted  of  mats  spread  around  the  outermost  circumference,  while 
the  centre  was  the  bare  ground,  on  which  the  tim  was  made* 
Around  this  all  could  sit  in  a  circle  lacing  each  other.  Their  beds 
were  skins  thrown  over  the  mats.  The  door  was  an  opening  in 
the  wall  of  drapery  enclosing  the  lodge,  over  which  a  blanket  or 
skin  was  suspended.  All  slept  soundly  in  this  simple  shelter  with- 
out fear  of  burglars,  and  many  anight  has  my  informant,  Mr.  Hub- 
bard, reposed  after  the  toils  of  camp  life  in  these  lodges  with  his  In- 
dian friends.  Almost  all  of  Mr.  Hubbard's  experience  was  of  a 
friendly  character,  but  on  his  way  towards  St.  Louis  he  made  a 
short  stop  at  Peoria,  in  company  with  Mr.  DeChamps,  and  at  this 
place  encountered  a  beligerent  Indian  which  .adventure  he  has- 
told  in  Ballance's  History  of  Peoria,  as  follows: 

Chicago  Dec.  30th,  1867. 
C.  Bat.lance,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir:  Jn  reply  to  yours  of  the  26th,  I  have  to  say  that  I  was  in  Peoria  the- 
last  days  of  1818,  for  the  first  time,  on  my  way  to  St.  Louis  passing  there,  re- 
turning about  the  20th  November,  and  wintering  about  one  mile  above  Henne- 
pin.     It  was  my  first  year  as  an  Indian  ti-ader. 

As  we  rounded  the  point  of  the  lake,  above  Peoria,  on  our  down  trip,  noticed 
that  old  Fort  Clark  was  on  fii-e.  just  blazing  up.  Reaching  it,  we  found  about 
200  Indians  congregated,  ei  joymg  a  war-dance,  painted  hideously,  with  scalp* 


Traffic  ^Yith  The  Indians.  343 

on  their  spears  and  in  their  sashes,  which  they  had  taken  from  the  heads  of 
Americans  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain,  from  1812  to  181-5.  They  were  danc- 
ing, rehear*sin<j^  their  deeds  of  bravery,  etc.  These  were  the  only  people  then 
there  or  in  that  vicinity.     I  never  know  of  a  place  called  Creve-Ca>ur.     .     .     . 

I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  my  first  aiTival  there.  A  warrior,  noticingr  me 
(then  a  boy  of  16).  asked  Mr.  DesOhamps,  the  chief  of  our  expedition,  who  I 
was.  He  replied  that  I  was  his  adopted  son,  just  from  Montreal;  Vjnt  this  was 
not  credited.  The  Indian  said  1  was  a  younpf  American,  and  seemed  tlisposed 
to  quarrel  with  me.  Des  Champs,  wishin<?  to  mi.K  with  the  Indians,  left  a  man 
on  the  boat  with  me,  telling:  him  not  to  leave,  but  take  care  of  me,  not  to  go 
out.  Through  this  man,  1  learned  what  the  purport  of  the  conversation  was. 
The  Indian  remained  at  the  bow  of  the  boat,  talking  to  me  through  this  man, 
who  interpreted,  saying,  among  other  things,  that  1  vas  a  young  American, 
and  taking  from  his  sash  scalp  after  scalp,  saying  they  were  my  nation's,  he  ^^aw 
I  was  frightened.  I  was  never  more  so  in  my  life,  fairly  trembling  with  tear. 
His  last  effort  to  insult  me  was  taking  a  long-hah-ed  scalp,  .  .  .  (Here  the 
Colonel  describes  the  particular  way  in  which  the  Indian  made  it  very  wet,  and 
then  proceeds)  and  then  shaking  it  so  that  it  sprinkled  me  in  the  face.  In  a 
moment  all  fcuir  left  me,  and  1  seized  Mr.  DesChamp's  double-barreled  gun, 
took  good  aim,  and  fired.  The  man  guarding  me  was  standing  about  half  way 
between  us,  and,  just  as  I  pulled  the  trigger,  he  struck  up  the  gun.  and  there- 
by saved  the  life  of  the  Indian,  and  perhaps  mine  also.  It  produced  great  con- 
fusion, Des  Champs  and  all  our  men  runnuiir  to  their  boats.  After  a  short  con- 
sultation among  the  old  traders,  Des  Champs  ordered  the  boats  to  push  out.  and 
we  descended  the  stream  and  went  down  three  or  tour  miles,  and  camped  on  the 
oppxife  side  of  the  river.  That  was  the  first  experience  of  hostile  array  with 
my  n.'d  brethren.  Yours,  etc., 

O.  S.  Hrr.HAKD. 

After  each  party  of  Mr.  De  Cliamp's  men  had  ilistributed 
themselves  at  various  stations,  which  were  generally  on  the  bank 
of  some  stream,  the  iirst  business  was  to  secure  their  goods  in  a 
kind  of  store  built  of  logs,  in  the  rear  of  the  building  in  wliich 
they  lived.  This  done,  all  but  two  or  three  sallied  forth  into  the 
back  countrv,  in  squads  of  two  or  more,  to  seek  the  locality  where 
the  Indians  were  transiently  encamped  for  a  Inint.  Having  found 
them,  the  bartering  began.  Blankets,  knives,  vermilion  and 
trinkets  were  spread  in  tempting  display,  as  a  shopman  would 
exhibit  his  goods  in  show  windows.  The  furs  obtained  for  these 
were  carried  back  to  the  stations,  and  a  new  recruit  of  goods 
brought  out  for  exchange.  In  this  way  the  winter  was  spent,  and 
when  spring  opened,  the  whole  corps  of  traders  returned  to 
Mackinaw,  with  their  batteaux  loaded  with  the  results  of  their 
winter's  trade. 

The  Indians  gave  up  the  fur  hunting,  and  betook  themselves  to 
their  lodges  in  time  to  dig  up  the  ground  with  sharp  sticks  and 
plant  a  crop  of  the  ever  essential  corn  for  subsistence.  T!iis  rou- 
tine was  repeated  annually  by  the  traders  and  Indians,  till  the 
beaver  and  other  fur-bearing  animals  vanished  before  the  plow 
and  sjiade  of  civilization. 

Besides  thegarrison  and  the  American  Fur  Company  at  Chicago, 
was  the  Indian  a<;en('v.  an  indispensil)l(>  institution  wherewith  to 
settle  disputes  wliich   might  arise  between  them  and  the  wlutes, 


M4  Factorij  Sij><tt'iii. 

ami  to  keep  tliem  in  good  linmor  bv  the  judicious  distribution  of 
ocoasioiuil  presents.  Tliis  was  established  ii»  1SJ7,  shortly  after 
the  completion  of  tlie  fort,  and  Charles  Jowett,*  of  Kentucky, 
appointed  to  its  charge  with  a  salary  of  one  thousand  dollars  ])er 
year.  The  factory  system  established  at  various  places  on  the 
frontier  had  for  its  principal  object  the  fulfillment  of  such  clauses 
in  Indian  treaties  as  bound  the  United  States  to  supply  them 
with  goods  for  sale,  but  the  energy  and  thrift  of  private  enterprise 
always  outrivals  any  project  undertaken  by  tlie  unwieldly  ma- 
chinery of  goveiument.  Hence  the  establishment  of  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Comj)any  soon  made  thelJ.  S.  factory  at  Chicago  a  useless 
institution ;  for  although  the  factor,  Jacob  Varnum,  was  instruct- 
ed to  sell  goods  to  the  Indians  for  ten  ])er  cent,  less  than  the  price 
of  the  same  to  white  men,  yet  the  Fur  Company,  by  their  superioi- 
facilities  for  sending  goods  into  the  de])ths  of  the  forest,  were 
able  to  monopolize  the  trade  by  underselling  the  factor,  and  as  a 
consequence,  his  duties  as  agent  for  the  Government  were  assigned 
to  the  authorized  Indian  agent,  and  the  factors'  othees  were 
always  discontinued  soon  after  private  enterprise  had  fulfilled  the 
necessary  conditions  of  supplying  the  Indians  with  goods. 

The  following  letter  t'roui  Mr.  Viirnum  to  the  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs  at  Washington,  was  evidently  written  with  a  eoumiendable  desire  to  en- 
large the  sphere  of  his  usefulness  to  the  Government  at  a  time  when  the 
American  Fur  Co.  were  monopolizing  the  trade  with  the  Indians; 

UxiTKD  Statks  Factory,  Chicago,  June  20th,  1819. 

The  exclusion  of  foreigners  (the  Hudson  Bay  Co. )  from  the  Indian  trade  will, 
it  is  believed,  justify  the  extension  of  the  operation  of  this  establishment.  This, 
together  with  the  consideration  of  the  large  supply  of  l)lankets  and  cloths  now 
on  hand,  induces  me  to  reconmiend  a  distribution  of  the  goods  of  this  factory 
among  the  adjacent  villages  for  trade,  to  such  an  extent  ns  will  insure  the  sale  ol 
nearly  all  by  the  expiration  of  th.>  trading  season.  Such  a  measure.  I  am  well 
convinced  will  be  highly  gratifying  to  the  Indians,  as  a  great  number  by  this 
means  will  be  enabled  to  supply  themselves  with  goods  on  more  reasonalil'' 
terms  than  could  otherwise  be  done;  nor  do  I  ai>prehend  any  ditiiculty  in  etieit- 
ing  it  to  the  advantag'  of  the  frovernment,  as  gentlemen  of  unquestionable  in- 
tegrity have  already  applied  for  such  outfits.  JACOB  H.  VAUNUM. 

The  above  propo-ition  was  declined  in  a  respectful  letter  from  the  Supt.  at 
WasliingtoM.     See  .\m.  State  Pa])ers,  Vol.  II,  p.  ."{(U. 

Mr.  Hubbard,  alter  his  return  to  JMaekinaw  in  the  spring  ot' 
1810,  was  the  next  winter  detailed  to  Michigan,  and  did  nut  j>ass 
tlirough  Chicago  again  till  the  fall  of  1820,  at  which  time  he  was 
on  Ills  way  back  to  his  old  trading  ground  in  Illinois,  with  the 
same  companions. 

No  change  had  taken  place  in  Chicago;  the  same  garrison  was 
there  and  Mr.  Kinzie's  and  Ouilimette's  families  still  lived  in 
contentment  amidst  their  wild  associations,  hardly  dreaming  of 

*  His  name  is  siielled.loweltin  the  State  Papers  but  in  the  histories  of  the  day 
incorrectly  spellea  Jcwett. 


Great  Indian  Treaty  at  Chicago.  345 

wliat  was  soon  to  become  a  reality  around  them  in  the  way  of 
settlements. 

In  the  year  1816.  Alexander  Wolcott,  of  Connecticut,  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Jewett  as  Indian  agent.  Miss  Eleanor  Kitizie  was 
then  a  blooming  miss  of  twelve.  She  certainly  had  no  rival 
<'harmers  to  alienate  the  affections  of  her  suitor,  Mr.  Wolcott;  or 
if  she  had,  it  is  tair  to  assume  that  she  would  have  eclipsed  them, 
for  the  happy  couple  were  married.  Mr.  John  Hamlin,  a  justice 
of  the  peace  from  Fulton  county,  Illin(MS,  officiating  on  the  occa- 
sion, the  two  lovers,  with  commendable  serenit}',  waiting  many 
<lays  for  him  to  be  sent  for  for  that  purpose.  This  may  be  set 
<li)wn  as  the  first  wedding  ever  celebrated  in  Chicago  according 
to  the  approved  style  of  modern  days.    Its  date  was  1S2U. 

The  next  year,  1821,  an  event  took  place  which  was  significant 
of  the  ]n'ogress  of  settlements  in  the  country,  as  well  as  of  the 
waning  furtunes  of  the  Indians.  The  country  on  the  east  bank 
of  Lake  Michigan  was  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  Pottawat- 
omies,  the  Ottawas  and  Chippcwas,  each  holding  their  respec- 
tive portions;  but  the  settlements  of  ilichigan  were  rapidly 
trenchino;  on  their  pounds,  and  the  Indians  were  not  nnwiilinsr 
to  sell  out  to  the  United  Stntes,  under  an  assurance  that  west  of 
the  lake  an  asylum  was  open  to  them.  A  treaty  was  therefore 
])roposed  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  their  lands,  and  Chicago 
selected  as  the  place  for  it,  and  the  time  appointed  for  its  session 
was  late  in  August,  1821.  Lewis  Cass,  governor  of  Michigan, 
and  Solomon  Sihley,  acted  in  behalf  of  the  United  States;  and  a 
large  band  of  Indian  chiefs  (among  whom  Metea,  the  Pottawat- 
omie, was  conspicuous)  united  their  wisdom  to  make  the  best 
terms  they  could  with  the  LTnited  States  in  parting  with  their 
country. 

At  the  time  of  this  treaty,  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  was  on  his 
way  from  St.  Louis  to  his  heaihpiarters,  as  Indian  Agent,  near 
the  outlet  ot'Lakt'  Su]>erior,  ami  his  account  of  this  great  Indian 
couiu'il  at  C  liieago,  wliich  ])lace  he  passed  while  it  wa^  in  sest^jon, 
is  detailed  in  his  usual  lucid  style  in  his  book  entitled  "Travels 
in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Yalley,"  published  in 
182.>. 

But  first,  let  us  listen  to  his  descrij)tion  of  the  great  fossilized 
tree,  which  was  found  in  this  early  day  in  the  Desplaiiu's  river,  a 
little  above  its  jnnctioTi  with  the  Kankakee.  Of  it  lie  says: 
"The  part  wliicii  is  exposed,  according  to  our  measurement,  ia 
lifty-one  feet  and  a  few  inches  in  length,  and  its  diameter  at  the 
largest  end  three  feet.  ]^>ut  there  is  apparently  a  considerable 
portion  of  its  original  length  cut'cealed  in  rhe  rock."*     After  ex- 

*ThomasToii8ey,  Ewq,  of  Virffi.ia.  visited  that  locality  the  next  year,  and 
▼erities  Sohooknifts  description  ot  this  reiuarkiible  petrifaction. 


346  Hat  ions  for  Three  Thousand  Indians. 

amining  tliis  tree,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  passed  Mount  Joliet,  which  he 
accurately  describes,  and  with  his  party  passed  on  up  the  west 
side  01  the  Desplaiues  to  the  fording  place,  not  far  from  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Riverside.  After  crossing  he  says:  "We  found  the 
opposite  shore  thronged  with  Indians,  whose  loud  and  obtrusive 
salutations  caused  us  to  make  a  few  minutes'  halt.  From  this 
point  we  were  scarcely  ever  out  of  sight  of  straggling  parties,  all 
proceeding  to  the  same  place.  Most  commonly  they  were  moun- 
ted on  horses  and  appareled  in  their  best  manner,  and  decorated 
with  medals,  silver  bands  and  feathers.  The  gaudy  and  showy 
dresses  of  these  troops  of  Indians,  with  the  jingling  caused  l)y 
the  striking  of  their  ornaments,  and  their  s|)irited  manner  of 
riding,  created  a  scene  as  novel  as  it  was  interesting.  ''^  '^ 
*  *  After  crossing  the  south  fork  of  the  Chicago,  and 
emerging  from  the  forest  that  skirted  it,  nearly  the  whole  number 
ap))eared  on  the  extensive  and  level  plain  that  stretches  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  while  the  refreshing  and  noble  spectacle  of  the 
lake  itself,  with  'vast  and  sullen  swell,'  appeared  beyond." 

To  accommodate  the  nnmerous  delegation  who  gathered  at 
Chicago,  at  this  council,  great  preparations  had  to  be  made  at 
the  expense  of  the  government.  Rations  must  be  issued,  not 
only  to  the  chiefs  wdio  took  part  in  the  deliberations,  but  to  all 
who  came  as  spectators  to  grunt  out  gutteral  api)robation  to  the 
various  speeches  to  be  made.  These  numbered  over  3(MX):  they 
had  wearily  toiled  around  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan, and  reached  Chicago  with  a  keen  relish  for  the  "  mess  of 
pottage  for  which  their  birthright  was  to  be  sold,  and  he  who 
would  deny  this  poor  pittance  to  them  ought  to  be  branded  with 
anathema.  The  northern  bank  of  the  river  immediately  oppo- 
site the  fort  was  the  spot  selected  for  the  council,  within  the 
range  of  its  guns — perhaps  as  a  measure  of  caution.  In  the 
center  of  the  grounds  an  open  bower  was  erected,  with  rustic 
seats  for  the  chiefs.  Two  or  three  days  were  taken  up  in  for- 
malities essential  to  the  etiquette  of  Indian  customs  in  all  im- 
portant negotiations,  and  the  council  was  o})ened  by  a  speech, 
from  Governor  Cass,  setting  forth  the  objects  of  the  convention,  iu 
which  the  jiolitic  orator  eni})hasized  his  words  describing  the 
benefits  resulting  to  the  Indians  through  the  money  and  goods 
they  were  to  get  f(>r  tiieir  lands,  and  after  reminding  them  that 
tbeir  country  was  now  nearly  destitute  of  game,  formally  pro- 
posed to  t)(jy  it,  generously  ottering  to  let  them  still  retain  por- 
tions of  it  till  wanted  for  settlements,  although  they  were  receiv- 
ing annuities  for  the  same. 

A  short  jiause  ensued  after  the  respectful  attention  which  the 
Indians  had  given  to  this  speech,  and  after  tvvo  days  considera- 


Cession  of  Indian  Lands.  3-iT 

tion,  Metea  replied  to  it  in  his  happiest  vein  of  oratory.     The 

following  are  extracts  from  it. 

■■  Mj-  Father,  our  country  was  given  to  us  by  the  Great  Spirit,  who  g.ive  it  to 
us  to  hunt  upon,  to  make  our  corn  fields  upon,  to  live  upon.  anJ  to  make  our 
beds  upon  when  we  die  ;  and  he  would  never  forgive  us  should  we  now  bargain 
it  away.  When  you  first  spoke  to  us  of  the  lands  of  the  St.  Marys,  we  said  we 
had  a  little,  and  agreed  to  sell  you  a  piece  of  it ;  but  we  told  you  we  could  spare 
no  more.  Now  you  ask  us  again.  You  are  never  satisfied  !  We  have  sold  you 
a  great  tract  of  land  already  ;  but  it  is  not  enough  !  We  sold  it  to  you  for  the 
benefit  of  your  children,  to  farm  and  to  live  upon.  We  shall  want  it  all  for  our- 
selves. We  know  not  how  long  we  may  live,  and  we  wish  to  leave  some  lands  for 
our  children  to  hunt  upon.  You  are  gradually  taking  away  our  hunting  grounds. 
We  are  growing  uneasy.  What  lands  you  have  you  may  retain,  but  we  shall 
sell  no  more.  You  think  perhaps  I  speak  in  passion,  but  my  heart  is  gootl 
towai-ds  you.  We  have  now  told  you  what  we  had  to  say.  It  is  what  was  de- 
termined on  in  a  council  among  ourselves  ;  and  what  I  have  spoken,  is  the  voice 
of  my  nation.  But  do  not  think  wo  have  a  bad  opinion  of  you.  We  speak  to 
vou  with  a  good  heart,  and  the  feelings  of  a  friend." 

Governor  Cass  replied  to  this  speech,  indulging  in  soft  word& 
not  unjustly  applied,  as  due  in  the  main  to  the  honor  and  good 
faitli  of  the  Indians,  to  which  various  Indian  Cliiefs  replied  in 
the  usual  style  of  Indian  oratory.  John  Kinzie  also  made  a 
speech,  in  which  he  refuted  a  charge  of  non-fultilhnent  of  treaty 
obligations  on  the  part  of  the  United  States.  These  delibera- 
tions lasted  till  the  !23d.  pending  which  no  one  doubted,  either 
white  or  Indians,  that  the  latter  would  come  to  the  terms  re- 
(juiredof  them  and  sell  tlieir  lands,  but  no  signs  of  3'ielding  the 
issue  were  yet  manifest  in  the  impenetrable  countenances  of  the 
chiefs,  as  the  council  was  closed  on  this  day  by  one  of  the  chiefs 
wiio  said  : 

'•My  Father,  it  is  late;  I  shall  do  no  more  to-day;  but  to- 
morrow you  shall  hear  our  tinal  council.  You  are  hungry  by 
tliis  time.  You  white  men  eat  at  certain  tixcd  hours;  we  In- 
dians do  what  we  have  to  do  and  eat  when  it  is  convenient. 

The  deliberations  lasted  till  the  29th,  when  the  treaty  was 
signed  by  both  parties. 

The  Indians  made  a  cession  of  their  lands  in  Michigan, 
amounting  to  over  tive  million  acres,  for  which  the  Pottowato- 
mies  were  to  receive  an  annuity  of  five  thousand  dollars  per  an- 
mini  for  twenty  years,  in  specie,  and  the  sum  of  one  thousand 
dollars  expended  annually  among  them  during  the  time  to  sup- 
port a  blacksmith  and  .1  teacher,  and  the  right  to  immediately 
construct  roads  through  the  territory  ceded,  connecting  Detroit,. 
Fc»rt  Wayne  and  Chicago,  was  guaranteed. 

The  OtLawas  were  to  receive  a  perpetual  annuity  of  one  thous- 
and dollars,  and  for  ten  years  the  sum  of  iifteen  hundred  dollar* 
expended  annually  to  fu"nish  tiiem  a  blacksmith  and  a  teacher. 

The  next  year,  1822.  passed  off  with  few  incidents  to  diversify 
the  seeming  inanity  of  life  on  the  frontier.     The  officers  of  th» 


348  Narrative  of  E.  Ch'ilds. 

garrison,  together  with  tie  few  citizens  of  the  place,  amused 
themselves  with  hunting,  fishing,  and  such  sports  as  their  infin- 
ite leisure  conld  l!:^'ent  i.i  their  immunity  from  the  burdens  of 
society,  as  it  now  is,  Their  supplies  for  subsistence  were 
obtained  from  Detroit  ]>_y  a  sailing  vessel  in  her  annual  trip,  and 
also  from  Southern  Illinois,  up  the  Illinois  and  Desplaines  rivers, 
to  this  then  obscure  post,  environed  by  a  hundred  miles  of  wilder- 
ness, without  an  inhabitant  except  the  Indians.  The  following 
report  from  Col.  Ebenezer  Childs,  of  LaCrosse,  to  the  State  His- 
torical Societv  of  Wisconsin,  will  give  a  faithful  jncture  of  the 
•country  at  this  date: 

In  1821  I  made  a  trip  to  St.  Louis  in  a  bark  canoe  up  Fox  River,  acro^^s  tlio 
Porta^o.  and  down  the  Wisconsin  to  Prairie  du  Chion.  and  thence  down  the 
Mississippi.  I  was  sixteen  days  on  my  journej',  and  snw  but  seven  white  men 
in  the  whole  distance,  out.side  the  forts.  1  met  one  keel-boat  on  the  Mississippi 
bound  up  for  Fort  Armstrong  at  Hock  Island.  There  was  a  small  fjarrisoa 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  T^es  Moines  River.  There  were  but  few  Americans 
and  few  Spaniards  at  St.  Louis;  the  inhabitants  were  mostly  French.  There 
was  but  one  brick  building  in  the  place,  and  no  buildings  were  located  on  Front 
street,  or  where  the  levee  now  is.  I  encamped  on  the  sand  l)each,  near  where 
the  old  market  is  located.  \  remained  two  weeks,  did  my  business,  when  1  was 
advised  to  return  by  way  of  the  Illinois  River. 

I  started  by  that  route,  and  the  next  day  was  taken  down  with  the  ague  and 
fever,  and  the  day  following  one  of  my  men  was  also  taken  with  the  same  coni- 

Flaint,  which  left  me  with  one  Indian  and  one  Frenchman  to  paddle  my  canoe, 
did  not  provide  a  sufficiently  large  stock  of  provisions  when  I  left  St.  Louis, 
presuming  that  I  could  get  plenty  on  the  Illinois.  But  all  I  was  able  to  obtain. 
was  one  ham  full  of  maggots,  and  one  peck  of  Indian  meal.  I  saw  but  oik; 
house  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  to  Fort  Clark,  where  Peoi'ia  now  if,  at 
-which  latter  place  one  French  trader  resided.  When  we  reached  there,  I  was 
•completely  exhausted,  and  remained  a  few  days  to  recruit  a  little,  when  we  Ifft 
to  prosecute  our  journey.  We  continued  up  the  Illinois  to  the  junction  of  the 
JKankakee  and  Eau  Plaine,  and  thence  up  the  Eau  Plaine  to  where  I  supiws  d 
we  had  to  make  a  portage  to  Chicago  River;  but  I  could  not  see  any  signs  of 
the  portage.  There  had  been  heavy  rains  for  several  days,  which  had  so  raiseil 
the  streams  that  they  overflowed  their  banks.  I  concluded  that  I  had  gone 
far  enough  for  the  portage,  so  1  left  the  Eau  Plaine  and  took  a  northeast  direc- 
tion. After  traveling  a  few  miles,  I  found  the  current  of  the  Chicago  River. 
The  whole  country  was  inundated;  1  found  not  less  than  two  feet  of  water  all 
the  way  across  the  i)ortage. 

That  night  I  arrived  at  (  hicago.  pitched  my  tent  on  the  bank  of  the  lake,  and 
went  to  the  iort  for  provisions.  I  was  not.  however,  able  to  obtain  any;  the 
commissaiy  informing  nie  that  the  public  ston's  were  so  reduced  that  the  gar- 
rison were  subsisting  on  half  rations,  and  he  knew  not  when  they  would  get 
any  more.  I  went  to  Col.  Bkaubkln,  wiio  furnished  me  with  a  small  si.j^piy. 
I  found  two 'traders  there  from  Mackinaw;  and  as  my  men  were  all  su  k.  I 
exchanged  my  tt^nt  and  canoe  lor  a  horse,  and  took  passage  on  board  th<j 
Mackinaw  boat  as  far  as  Manit«nvoc.  One  of  our  party  had  to  go  by  land  and 
ride  the  horse.  There  were  a^  this  time  but  two  tamilies  residing  outside  of  the 
Iort  at  Chicago,  those  of  Mr.  Kinzie  and  Col.  Bk-vcuein. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  Name  Chicago  First  Appears  on  School  Atlases  —  The 
Mysteries  Beyond  —  Adventures  of  James  Galloxoay  and 
What  Greio  out  of  Them  —  Arrival  of  The  Clyhourns  at 
Chicago  —  Chicago  Sicrveyed  and  Laid  Out  in  'Village  Lots 
— The  Winnehago  Sca?'e  — The  Illinois  and  3£ichigan  Ca- 
nal Located  — Civil  JTidory  of  Early  Chicago^ — County 
Organization  —  Adjacent  Settlements  —  David  McKee's 
Narration. 

Tl.iere  are  yet  many  persons  living  tlironghout  the  I^ortliwest, 
but  little  past  luiddle  age,  who  were  horn  in  the  old  fashioned 
New  England  cottage.  It  stood  iipon  a  level  sward  of  green,  but 
scanty  in  extent,  among  the  diversified  liills  and  valleys  around, 
Near  its  side  door  was  the  well,  witli  its  ''old  oaken  bncket" sus- 
pended from  the  elevated  extremity  of  the  well-sweep  by  means 
of  a  slender  pole  cut  from  the  adjacent  woods.  The  kitchen  was 
the  largest  and  most  important  room  in  the  house.  One  door 
led  from  it  directly  into  a  parlor  half  its  size,  but  this  door  was 
seldom  opened  except  when  distinguished  guests  came  to  occupy 
the  room  sacred  to  their  entertainment.  Two  other  doors  opened 
into  bedrooms  below,  and  a  stairway  led  directly  to  apartments 
above,  used  for  sleeping  rooms  or  clutter-lofts.  The  fire-place 
was  large  enough  to  accommodate  a  large  baking  oven,  reached 
througli  1  aperture  in  the  jamb  on  the  right  hand  side,  wdiero 
the  "  rye-Indian"'  bread  and  pork  and  beans  were  baked.  All 
provident  husbands  kept  on  hand  a  stock  of  fine-split  dry  wood 
to  heat  the  oven — hence  the  old  familiar  couplet: 

"  Y(>:i  mn?t  bo  kind,  you  must  bo  <rood,  '.- 

Ana  keep  your  wito  in  oven  wood."  ^   • 

The  fuel  tised  for  heating  the  room  in  the  winter  was  a  green 
rock-maple  back-log,  in  front  of  which  small  dry  wood,  laid  upon 
two  iron  "  fire-dogs,"  burned  brightly,  and  in  the  long  winter  eve- 
nings pine  knots  were  used,  that  blazed  with  such  brilliancy  as 


350  Chicago  on  The  School  Atlas. 

to  send  a  glaviniif  liglit  into  the  remotest  part  of  the  kitchen.  By 
their  light  a  bashful  suitor  to  one  of  tlie  daughters  woukl  lose  a 
few  games  of  checkers  with  her  brother,  who  had  nothing  to  dis- 
tract his  attention.  "While  this  was  going  on,  the  fair  one  sits 
nearer  the  tire,  busy  with  her  slate-pencil  and  arithmetic.  AVhen 
nine  o'clock  conies,  all  retire  but  the  two  lovers;  but  before  doing 
this,  the  father  assures  the  young  man  by  inviting  him  nearer 
the  lire.  The  invitation  is  accepted,  not  without  some  reserve  on 
the  part  of  the  yoinig  man  as  he  draws  \^^  to  the  fire,  and  conse- 
quently nearer  the  object  of  his  affections.  All  these  old-fash- 
ioned ways  are  changed  now,  but  yet  some  of  the  cottages  are 
still  standing  that  have  witnessed  them;  and  let  us  look  into  one 
of  their  garrets  and  see  if  we  can  find  something  to  freshen  our 
memories  of  earh-  days.  The  garret  is  lighted  by  a  six-light 
window  in  each  gable  end,  fitted  with  seven-bv-nine  glass,  and  by 
their  light  we  will  look  for  what  we  wish  to  find.  Here  are  the 
treadles  of  the  old  loom,  that  "mother's"'  feet  have  pressed  with 
measured  round  as  she  twilled  the  web  she  was  weaving;  the 
spinning-wheel,  and  the  wooden  '•  finger"  with  wliich  she  turned 
it  into  a  sonorous  hum.  Here  is  the  old  hand-reel,  two  feet  long, 
with  a  cross-bar  on  each  end  like  a  T.  Here  is  the  flax-wheel  and 
its  distafl",  with  some  of  the  tow  still  clingin<;  to  it.  Next  comes 
the  old  '•  foot  stove."  It  is  a  sheet-iron  box  set  in  a  wooden  frame, 
in  which  a  small  sheet-Iron  dish  of  live  coals  is  placed,  on  which 
"mother's"  feet  rest  while  she  sits  in  church  in  the  winter,  be- 
fore the  introduction  of  stoves.  Ah!  here  comes  something  that 
would  make  the  tears  channel  down  the  crow-tracks  of  age,  if 
these  original  tenants  jf  this  piece  of  furniture  could  see  it.  It  is 
the  old  wooden  cradle,  from  the  sides  of  which  the  hands  of 
"  mother"  have  worn  oft"  the  paint  in  her  efforts  to  rock  to  sleep 
her  rollicking  babies.  It  is  full  of  a  medley  of  cast-off  relics — 
hanil-cards,  old  newsj^apers,  old  copy-books  filled  up  v.'ith  straight 
marks,  pot-hooks  and  curves.  At  the  bottom  are  the  old  school- 
books;  among  wl  ich  are  Marshall's  Spelling-book,  the  English 
Reader,  the  Columbian  Orator,  Murray's  Grammar,  and  lastly, 
Woodbridge's  Geograpiiy.  This  is  what  we  have  been  looking 
for  all  this  time,  for  on  it  the  name  "Chicago'"  first  made  its  ap- 
peai-ance  in  our  school-book  literature. 

It  was  suggestive  of  I'^ckless  adventure  far  beyond  the  re- 
straints of  civilization;  a  ]  lace  around  which  clustered  Indian 
tents,  ornamented  with  scalps  hung  out  to  dry  as  we  boys 
stretched  our  coon  skins  on  boards,  and  he  who  would  dare  to  go 
there  must  be  a  prodigy  of  pluck.  l)eyond  this  place  on  our 
school  maps  interposed  a  vast  plain  between  lake  Alichigan  and 
the  Mississippi  river,  on  whicli  were  names  of  Indian  tribes 
whose  pronunciation  set  our  stammering  tongues    at  defiance. 


W^esfern  21ijsteries.  351 

8t.  Anthony's  Falls,  Prairie  du  Cliien,  Ft.  Arnistronn^,  on  Piock 
Island,  and  Ft.  Madison,  at  the  Des  Moines  Rapids,  were  the 
only  names  on  the  Upper  Mlssissipjji  above  St.  Louis,  e.\ce]>t  tlie 
inevitable  nomenclature  of  Indian  names,  which  were  always 
such  a  puzzle  to  us. 

The  Mississippi  river  was  as  far  west  as  our  maps  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  went;  but  on  the  map  of  North  America  the  immense 
void  between  this  river  and  the  Pacitic  coast  was  filled  u])  with 
large  spaces  lettered  unexplored ;  and  on  its  extreme  western 
verjre  was  a  stiff  ranm'  of  mount;'.ins,  studdino;  the  Pacific  coast 
like  the  bold  headlainl^  of  a  river.  Here  the  majestic  forces  of 
nature  crowned  the  mountain  tops  with  everlasting  snow,  and 
warmed  the  valleys  with  perennial  spring.  Here  wei"e  *^enantless 
deserts  and  basins  below  tide  water,  havinir  no  connection  with 
the  sea — so  our  geographies  said.  Whatever  else  was  there  was 
left  to  conjecture,  and  our  timid  imaginations  would  paint  the 
suhlimest  grandeurs  of  savage  life,  basking  in  the  assurance  of  a' 
perpetual  lease  among  their  mysterious  and  impregnable  fast- 
nesses. 

Our  fiithers,  from  whose  fanciful  imagery  the  wire  edge  had 
been  taken  off  by  the  adaptaiion  of  ways  and  means  to  ends, 
looked  more  practically  \\\)ow  the  matter,  and  saw  a  glorious  fu- 
ture spectacle  opening  before  the  world  in  the  development  of 
this  exhaustless  region  of  supply,  though  now  beyond  the  limits 
of  civilization.  They  beheld  the  vast  chain  of  lakes  on  the  map 
extending  into  the  interior  of  a  continent  almost  to  the  dividing 
ridge  of  the  ]Mississippi  Valley,  with  an  eye  to  the  useful.  Here 
unmeasured  plains  must  be  upturned  by  the  plow,  farm  houses 
erected,  churches,  school  houses  and  highways  must  be  built, 
cities  laid  out.  and  all  the  ornamentation  which  belongs  to  them 
must  be  introduced.  Where  was  to  be  the  central  meti-opolis  of 
these  productions  of  man's  handiwork  in  the  great  ])lateau  of 
North  America — the  high  and  salubrious  plain  from  wdience  the 
Mississippi  found  its  sources,  where  the  great  inland  seas  secreted 
their  waters,  like  reservoirs  for  the  use  of  a  nation?  The  solu- 
tion of  this  was  yet  a  scaled  book  whose  secrets  were  to  be  re- 
vealed in  their  own  fortuitous  way.  Little  by  little  the  qnestion 
has  been  answered  as  the  progress  ot  private  and  public  enter- 
prise has  unveiled  the  destiny  of  Chicago. 

The  first  settlers  along  the  alluvial  intervals  of  the  rivers  in 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  especially  in  the  wooded  districts,  had  a  sorry 
experience  for  the  first  few  years;  not  for  want  of  supplies 
wherewith  to  subsist,  for  these  M'ere  easily  obtained  from  the 
forest,  but  the  fever  and  ague  was  ever  present  during  the  mala- 
rial months  of  spring  and  fall,  and  few  escaped  it  sooner  or  later. 
It  was  not  generally  known  then  that  the  Illinois  prairies  were 


tiii'2  AdceidKnn  erf  JamtS  (jalloirmj. 

almost  exempt  from  tin's  scouriie,  a!i(l  even  it"  it  had  heen,  it& 
ffreat  distance  into  the  "vvilds  was  an  objection  to  emigrants  who 
journeyed  west  in  tlieir  own  wagons. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  of  IS  12  James  Gallo\va_y,  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  emigrated  to  Erie  Co.,  Ohio,  in  this  way,  where 
he  lived  till  1824.  lie  then  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  on  the 
Illinois  prairies  at  or  near  Chicago,  where  the  ague  was  less 
prevalent  than  at  his  home  in  Ohio.  With  tliis  end  in  view  lie 
<)btained  a  wagon  with  much  exertion,  and  secured  the  services 
of  a  Mr.  Slater,  an  experienced  trapper,  to  accomi)anyhim  to  his 
new  destination.  On  the  1st  of  September,  his  outfit,  consisting 
of  a  gun,  an  Indian  ton  ahawk,  ammunition,  steel  traps,  blankets 
and  a  sack  of  corn  meal,  was  ready,  and  the  two  started  with  a 
horse  and  wagon,  westward  into  the  wilds.  Besides  shooting  the 
necessary  game  on  which  to  live  as  they  traveled  day  after  day, 
they  set  their  traps  near  their  encampment  each  night,  and  thus 
'obtained  a  stock  of  furs  which  increased  daily,  till  their  arrival 
at  Ft.  "Wayne.  Here  they  disposed  of  them  and  resumed  their 
journey  through  the  forests,  following  military  roads  or  Indian 
trails,  to  St.  Jo3e])]i.  which  was  the  next  point  to  be  reached. 
Thence  they  followed  the  old  Indian  trail  which  had  for  man}- 
years  been  a  well  known  route  from  Detroit  westward  around  the 
southern  extremitv  of  Lake  Michiiran,  thence  branching  off  in 
various  directions  to  important  points  in  Indian  estimation,  such 
as  Chicago,  liock  Island,  and  the  Illinois  river  at  Starved  Rock, 
Mr.  Galloway  and  his  companion  took  the  Chicairo  trail.  It  led 
principally  along  the  sands  of  the  lake  and  brought  them  directly 
to  the  spot  by  a  better  road  than  the  avei'age  path  thi'ough  the 
wilderness.  Here  M"^.  Galloway  made  the  acquaintance  of  Billy 
Caldwell  and  Alexander  Kobinson,  two  notal)le  Indian  chiefs, 
often  mentioned  in  preceding  pages,  and  a  Scotchman  named 
Wallace,  all  of  whom  showed  him  many  favors,  and  subsequently 
were  of  essential  service  ti)  him.  Besides  these,  Mr.  Galloway 
mentions  Mr.  John  Ivinzie,  Dr.  Woolcott  and  Ouilimettc,  as 
permanent  residents,  and  several  others  wiio  were  only  transient 
visitors  at  the  place.  Such  was  Chicago,  late  in  the  autumn  of 
1824. 

Afte^  sufficient  rest,  Mr.  Galloway  with  his  companion  started 
into  the  interior,  and  arriving  at  the  present  locality  of  Marsailles 
they  found  a  squatter  named  Weed.  Of  him  Mr.  Galloway 
bought  his  title,  which  was  nothing  more  than  a  moral  claim  to 
twenty  acres  of  land  of  which  he  had  taken  possession  and  im- 
proved with  a  log  cabin,  flere  he  wintered  and  made  prepara- 
tions for  a  home.  The  following  spring  he  returned  to  his  family 
in  Ohio  by  way  of  the  lakes,  and  suddenly  surprised  them  by  his 
appearance  in   their  midst  without  warning,  as  no  means  were 


A(/r< /i/ '//'■(■s  of  JiiuHN  (idlldHHitj.  35;^ 

tlien  a:,  liatnl  to  comiiiuiiicate  from  oik^  tlistaiit  ]>t)iiit  to  anotlicr, 
atul  tliev  iiad  ivccivcd  uu  tidings  from  liim  since  lie  had  left  home 
the  {U'ovions  fall.  His  adventures  Avere  soon  told,  and  his  j)lans 
laid  to  emii^'rate  to  Illinois.  The  next  year  everv  thini^was  made 
ready,  and  he  Avith  his  family  embiu'ked  from  Saiidu>I<y,  in 
October.  Their  vessel  lan<led  at  Detroit,  where,  after  making  a 
week's  stop,  it  sailed  for  Mackinaw.  Here  the  captain  fell  among 
some  boon  companions,  and  wasted  a  week's  fine  weather  in  dissi- 
pation, aJthough  the  season  of  autumnal  storms  was  near  at  hand. 
About  the  middle  of  ( )ctobt!r  the  linal  start  was  made  for  (.'liicai;o 
durinijr  a  severe  storm.  The  vessel  rode  the  waves  succes-fullv 
till  rounding-  the  ishnul  of  St.  Helena  ^-lie  struck  a  rock  and  sunk 
on  the  beach  within  three  or  four  rods  of  the  shore.  Fortunately 
all  the  ])assen<2:;ers  reached  the  land,  but  through  .-i  drenching  rain, 
and  liere  they  remained  twu  days  without  shelter,  amidst  the 
tamarac  swamps  of  the  wild  place,  living  on  such  provi>ions  as 
could  be  saved  from  the  stranded 'vessel  in  the  contnsiim  of  the 
hour.  Mr.  Galloway  had  on  board  ],">(>  bbls.  of  Hour,  UO  l)bl>.  of 
salt  and  15  bbls.  of  pork.  The  salt  was  entirely  lost,  but  the 
tlour  and  pork  were  unloaded  in  order  to  rejiair  the  vessel.  The 
repairs  were  made  by  two  ship  carpenters  who  fortunately  haj)- 
pened  to  be  on  board  as  passengers.  Th's  done,  the  merchandise 
Avas  re-loaded,  except  what  was  lost,  and  the  vessel  again  put  to 
sea,  bound  for  the  port  from  whence  she  had  last  started,  !\rack- 
inaw,  Avhich  they  reached  after  two  day's  sail  by  dint  of  hard 
pumping  to  keep  the  disabled  vessel  alioat.  Here  the  American 
Fur  Company  had  a  vessel  comman<led  by  Capt,  liansom,  about 
to  sail  for  Chicago,  on  her  annual  trij).  Mr.  Galloway's  griefs 
did  not  end  here,  for  he  was  obliged  to  submit  to  extortionate  terms 
iu  order  to  secure  a  passage  for  his  freight  and  family.  Besides 
paying  $(50.00,  it  was  stipulated  that  on  arriving  at  Chicago  the 
most  valuable  ]tortion  of  the  freight  should  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  where  it  should  remain 
till  the  10th  of  the  tollowing  May.""  On  arriving  at  Chicago, 
liowever,  Mr.  Galloway,  through  the  assistance  of  the  passengers 
managed  to  get  the  flour  and  ])t»rk,  one  s|)inning-wheel,  and  one 
loom  into  his  poss(s.^ion.  The  Fur  Company  retaining  1  bbl. 
cherry  bounce,  1  bbl.  ]H'ach  braiuly,  1  bbl.  vinegar,  perhaps  on 
the  ground  that  they  could  appreciate  the  use  of  these  articles 
better  than  a  private  family. 

There  were  then  no  temperance  societies  to  bring  consolation 
to  Mr.  Galloway  for  the  loss  of  this  questionable  merchandise, 
all  of  which  he  had  made  himself,  pure  and  tasteful.  This,  how- 
ever, was  no  time  to  despond;  provision  for  the  winter  must  be 

*The  reasons  for  this  unusual  demand  were  not  stated  by  my  informant. 


354:  A  /r,'n(iin\s  of  Jinn,\-i   GaUoir.nj. 

ma'le  iimiiodiutely.  jiiul  iiiuler  very  adverse  circumstances.  Tlis 
vjuarr.'l  with  tlie  Aiiicrican  Fur  ('<)m]>;ui\'  lia«l  made  it  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  o'et  (juarters  in  Chicago  wliere  tiieir  iutluenco 
was  ])oteut,  and  hut  for  the  kindness  of  Alexander  liobinson,  lie 
might  have  been  ohli^ed  to  camji  out  all  winter,  lie  owned  a 
vacant  liouse  at  Hard  Scrabble  (Lee's  place),  and  ottered  it  to 
Lini  rent  free,  wliich  pro])osal  ]\[r.  Galloway  acce]>ted,  and  at 
once  occupied  the  ])hice  with  his  family  for  the  winter. 

,Tose]ih  LaFrond)oise,  ^fr.  Wallace,  a  Mr.  Weicks,  and  an  In- 
dian trader  i^well  known  to  some  of  the  old  settlers  of  ("hicag", 
still  living")  named  Barney  Lawton.  wei-e  at  the  time  living  at 
Lee's  ]ilaco,  and  were  near  neighbors  t()  ^tr.  Galloway.  T^ow  the 
tide  began  to  turn  with  him;  Mary,  his  oldest  daughter,  was  a 
comelv  miss  of  fourteen  vears,  and  be^an  to  receive  invitations 
to  dances  and  other  social  gatherings  at  Chicago,  and  though  tlu^ 
prudential  mother  declined  these  overtures,  she  often  entertained 
Chicago  soci(  ty  at  her  house,  and  frequently  on  these  occasions, 
were  brought  back  to  her  bottles  of  the  delectable,  drawn  from 
the  ]\ralmsey  butt,  which  the  Fur  Com[)any  had  retained  unjustly, 
as  ^Ir.  Galloway  claimed,  and  in  this  way  these  free  wines  were 
shared  partially  by  the  original  owners,  not  as  a  measure  of  jus- 
tice, but  with  that  air  of  profusion  which  often  accompanies  dis- 
sipation in  its  early  fascination,  ere  its  excesses  have  crossed  the 
Ri'bicon  between  decorum  and  degradation.  When  this  line  oi' 
ieaiarkation  was  left  to  the  censorshij)  of  public  opinitjn  only, 
its  restraints  were  stronger  and  more  salutary  than  when  the  tem- 
perance issue  is  complicated  with  politics  tt)  lacquer  over  private 
schemes  with  a  shallow  diguise  of  public  good,  as  is  sometimes 
the  case  now,  particularly  in  large  cities.  But  Chicago  at  this 
time  was  only  a  trading  post,  and  was  subject  to  little  or  no  n^- 
straint  except  what  grew  out  of  a  natural  discrimination  betweetj 
justi<'e  and  injustice,  and  though  it  was  made  up  with  savage  lite 
and  the  active  spirits  of  civilized  life,  that  brimmed  over  its  con- 
tines,  yet  no  acts  of  violence  were  committed,  and  in  the  nuiin 
the  ends  of  justice  were  answered  and  the  people  averaged  as 
temperate  then  as  now. 

The  fur  trade  was  the  great  interest  of  the  place,  and  it  would 
have  been  premature  at  that  time  to  Lave  attempted  the  intro- 
duction of  any  other,  farther  than  to  PU])ply  the  limited  wants  of 
the  place.  Ouilimette  kej)t  a  Hock  of  sheej)  by  dint  of  much  care 
to  protect  tlieni  from  the  ravages  of  the  wolves.  The  flesh  of 
these  ainmals  found  a  ready  market  for  homo  consumption,  but 
the  wool  was  a  di-ug,  and  Mr.  Galloway  purchased  wdiat  he  want- 
ed of  it  for  twenty -five  cents  per  pound.  This  the  industrious 
Mary  carded,  spun,  and  knit  into  stockings,  wliich  she  sold  readily 
at  from  seventy-five  cents  to  one  dollar  a  pair,  according  to  the 


ArchiJxdd  Clyhourn  Arrives  at  Chicmjo.  355 

li>iii:-tli.  This  youiiiiOIiss  is  now,  1880,  '^^I•s.  ArcliiUaM  ("lybourn, 
rtsidiiii:  on  Klstoii  Ave.,  ChicH<^o;  and  to  her  is  the  writer  in- 
<l(  litcd  for  the  ])recedin<j,-  taets  relating  to  lier  father.  In  the 
spring  folhiwiuir  their  ri'sideuoe  at  Lee's  phice,  IS'JT,  her  father, 
Mr.  Galloway,  moved  with  his  family  to  the  home  he  had  pur- 
<-!iased  the  year  before.  His  tratis|iortatiou  to  the  place  was 
efiected  by  means  of  a  larire  boat  fashioned  on  the  dug-out  plan, 
Avhich  ho  inade  himself  from  a  bhick  walnut  tree,  on  the  banks  of 
tlie  (Chicago  river.  Taking  advantage  of  the  usual  spring  freshets, 
he  navigated  this  ves-el,  freighted  with  his  family  and  all  his 
valual)les,  t!. rough  ]\Iud  lake  and  duwti  the  l)es])laines  and  Illi- 
nois rivers,  to  his  home.  The  place  was  theii  called  the  Grand 
Rapids  of  the  lUinuis.  Here  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Galloway  s])ent  the 
remainder  of  their  days,  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew  them. 
Mrs.  (Talloway  died  i]i'l8;)(».  and  Mr.  Galloway  survived  till  1864, 
■when  he  died,  and  many  of  the  ]M"esent  inha!iitants  of  Chicago 
will  d  'uhtless  remember  reading  the  becoming  obituary  notices 
which  the  Ghica;>o  pa]iers  gave  of  him  at  the  time. 

In  a  former  chapter,  the  adventures  of  Margaret  and  Elizabeth 
McKenzie  Avere  related,  and  it  will  be  remembered  that  Elizabeth, 
after  having  been  raised  from  her  childhood  among  the  Shaw- 
anese,  married  a  Mr.  Clark,  a  trader  near  Detroit,  by  whom  she 
had  two  children,  John  K.  and  Elizabeth  Clark;  and  her  father 
getting  news  from  her  and  his  t»lder  child  Margaret,  sought  and 
found  them,  and  both  of  the  captives  left  their  husbands,  and 
with  their  childivn  returned  with  their  father  to  Virginia,  their 
old  home.  Soon  after  their  return,  Elizabeth  married  a  Mr. 
Jonas  Olybotirn,  and  Mr.  Archibald  ('lybourn,  so  well  known 
as  one  of  the  esteemed  early  citizens  of  Chicago,  was  tiie  oldest 
son  of  this  union.  Biim  lull  of  the  spirit  of  ailventnre,  nurtured 
into  activity  by  the  associations  of  frontier  life,  he  made  his 
appearance  in  the  little  town  of  Chicago  on  horseback,  late  in  the 
summer  of  1828.  Alighting  at  the  house  of  John  Kinzie,  he 
presented  his  diploma.  This  consisted  of  his  elastic  step,  his 
nonest  countenance  and  his  wiry  form,  hardened  into  ready  ser- 
vice by  his  training.  He  had  made  the  long  journey  on  hoi'se- 
back  armed  with  a  rille,  with  which  to  procure  food  on  tlie  way, 
and  equipped  with  a  blanket  for  a  bed  at  night.  His  story  was 
soon  told  to  Mr.  Kinzie;  he  was  the  eon  of  p]lizabeth,  who  was 
sister  of  Margaret.  This  reached  a  sensitive  s]H)t  in  Mr.  Kinzie'a 
lieart,  and  he  em]>loyed  him  at  once  as  a  clerk  in  his  store,  which 
lie  then  kept  on  the  north  bank  of  tlie  river. 

After  remaining  in  his  service  a  year,  young  Archibald  went 
I'ack  to  Virginia  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  his  father  and 
mother  to  Chicago,  as  he  had  determined  to  msike  the  place  his 
permanent  liome,  and  wished  to  settle  his  parents  close  by  him, 


35(5  lieiiiiuiscence^  of  Jl/'f.  CJyhourn. 

where  lie  could  cherish  and  protect  them  in  tlieir  declining  years. 
In  accordance  with  this  filial  resolution,  they  with  himself,  came 
to  Chicago  the  next  year,  arrivinji'  on  the  :2od  of  Auirust,  1S"24. 
They  made  the  journey  in  a  liimher  wagon,  John  K.  Clark,  the 
oldest  son  of  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Clybourn).  by  her  first  husliand^ 
accompanying  them,  to  assist  in  attending  to  the  wants  of  tlie 
parents  on  the  way."  On  arriving  at  Chicago,  Mrs.  Clybourn 
readily  recognized  the  place  as  a  familiar  spot,  whei-e  the  Indian 
father  who  adopted  her  had  taken  Iier  with  his  family  in  his 
erratic  wanderings  during  her  ca])tivity.  Several  times  had  he 
been  here  to  trade  with  Shawne-au-kee  (John  Kinzie),  and  pay 
his  respects  to  his  brethren,  the  Pottawatoniies,  and  Mrs.  Cly- 
bourn felt  all  the  more  at  home  at  the  ]dace  for  this  rem  in  i  seen  ee.^ 

On  Mr.  Cly bourn's  arrival  at  the  ])lace  he  took  possession  of 
a  parcel  of  land,  now  known  as  Shefiield  Addition  to  Chicago, 
where  he  built  a  log  house  and  made  ])rei)arations  for  farming. 
Nearly  the  entire  north  half  of  the  State  of  Illinois  was  then 
in  its  wild  state,  while  the  southern  halt  was  well  settled,  and' 
Chicago  was  dependent  on  it  for  various  supplies,  of  which  beef 
Wiis  the  one  most  wanted.  To  sui)])ly  this  demand,  young  Archi- 
bald, after  having  comfortably  settled  his  parents,  went  into  the 
business  of  butchering,  and  was  obliged  to  go  as  far  south  as  San- 
gamon county  to  buy  his  cattle.  This  long  trip  brovight  him 
pa^t  the  home  of  Mr.  Galloway,  on  the  Illinois  river,  which  was 
a  kind  of  half-way  station  between  Chicago  and  the  settled  por- 
tions of  Illinois.  Here  amidst  the  dreary  wastes  of  the  l)road  prai- 
rie, relieved  only  by  narrow  fringes  of  woodland  along  tlie  streams, 
Mr.  Galloway's  solitary  home  welcomed  the  occasional  travelers 
who  passed  that  way.  This  home  was  enlivened  by  the  youthful 
Mary,  and  when  young  Archibald,  quartered  on  the  hospitalities 
of  the  venerable  father,  and  talked  over  their  forest  adventures  to- 
gether, other  thoughts  came  to  his  mind,  and  other  emotions  to 
his  heart,  that  eclipsed  even  the  social  affinities  of  backwoods- 
men. 

In  the  summer  of  1829,  a  stylisli  carriage  drawn  by  two  mettle- 
some steeds,  arrived  at  Chicago  from  over  the  soutliern  prairies. 
In  it  were  Mary  and  Archibald.  She  was  Mrs.  Clybourn  now. 
In  1835  they  built  a  fine  brick  house  on  thi'ir  farm,  which  was 
then  a  model  to  be  admired  by  every  one  who  saw  it,  and  at  this 
time  is  still  a  respectable  as  well  as  comino(lious  house,  bearing 
the  appearance  of  an  ancient  landmark  of  the  |)rairies.  Such  it 
was  for  many  years  after  it  was  first  built,  the  whole  country  to 
the  westward,  being  an  open  prairie  of  such  exceeding  tertility, 

*John  K.  Clark  ha<]  been  to  Chicago  four  or  five  years  proviously,  and  it  was 
owinsr  to  hia  commeiidntionB  of  the  place  that  young  Archibald  and  others  came, 
as  told  ill  a  precedinK  chapter. 


Chicago  Surveyed  and  Platted.  •>57 

that  the  grass  in  many  ])hiees  was  tall  enough  to  hide  a  horse  and 
!iis  rider.  At  the  time  ofMr.  Clybourn's  marriage,  1829,  Chicago 
■consisted  of  the  several  wliite  families  and  persons  already  men- 
tioned, and  a  few  other  emigrants,  whose  names  are  not  remem- 
bered by  those  to  whom  the  writer  is  indebted  for  the  details  of 
tliat  early  day.  Besides  these  and  the  garrison,  were  perhaj)s  a 
dozen  families  of  half-breeds  living  in  huts,  who  were  more  like  In- 
dians than  white  people,  and  many  of  them  cast  their  lot  with  the 
former  when  they  were  moved  westward,  in  1835  and  '6;  some  of 
them  were  above  par  ii:  those  refined  vii-tues  which  bring  love  and 
peace  to  the  domestic  circle;  of  these,  several  young  girls  have 
been  mentioned  to  the  writer  who  married  respectable  white  men, 
and  whose  descendants  are  now  amotig  our  esteemed  citizens. 

In  1821  Chicago  and  its  environs  were  surveyed  in  goviirn- 
uient  sections."  In  1820  Chicago  was  suiveved  and  ])lattcd  info 
village  lots,  and  a  map  of  it  engraved  and  piibli.«hed  the  next 
year.  This  was  done,  not  by  private  enterprise,  the  usual  method 
of  laying  out  towns,  but  by  state  authority,  for  the  purpose  of 
Selling  lots  and  applyiiig  the  proceeds  to  the  construction  of  the 
•canal,  whieii  ".as  to  connect  the  lakes  with  the  Missis--ip])i  river. 
This  scheme  had  long  been  thought  of,  and  the  expectation  of  its 
<idti mate  fultill merit  had  drawn  thither  a  little  nucleus  to  a  future 
metropolis.  On  the  14th  of  February,  1823,  the  legislature  of 
Illinois,  then  holding  its  sessions  at  Vandalia,  passed  an  act  con- 
stituting and  appointing  a  board  of  canal  commissioners  to  make 
]>reliminary  surveys.  The  next  year,  1824,  live  ditterent  routes 
were  partially  surveyed,  and  estinuites  made  of  the  cost  of  construct- 
ang  the  canal.  Colonel  K.  Paul,  an  engineer  of  St.  Tx)uis,  was 
one  of  the  board.  Their  highest  estimate  was  only  $716,110.0(). 
Xothing  more  wtu;  done  till  January  18th,  1825.  when  the  Illi- 
nois legislature  passed  an  act  incorporating  the  Illinois  and  Mich- 
igaji  canal,  with  a  capital  of  one  million  dollars.  The  stock  wjis 
not  taken,  and  all  hope  of  building  the  catial  by  the  state  van- 
ished. Those  intere.-led  in  the  completion  of  this  work,  withtuit 
which-  Chicago  would  be  a  forlorn  hope,  next  looked  to  Congress 
for  aid;  and  two  years  liittM",  in  1827  on  the  2nd  of  ^farch,  through 
the  iiitluence  of  ll<»n.  Diiniel  P.  Cook,  it  came.  Kvery  alternate 
section  .  f  ])nblic  land  in  a  belt  twelve  miles  wide,  thi-ough  tho 
center  of  which  the  camil  was  to  pass,  was  donated  to  the  State  of 
Illinois  by  the  genera!  government,  to  aid  in  its  construction. 

Unfortunately  the  State  was  then  under  too  heavy  a  load  of 
debt  to  avail  itself  of  this  generous  endowment  to  build  the  caJial, 
iind  its  commencement  was  destined  to  be  again  postponed. 

Even  at  this  date,  1S27,  Chicago  was  by  no  means  exempt  from 
Indian  alarms,  of  which    the  "  Winneb;.go  Scare"  W!»s  no  incou- 


•See  copy  Gov't  Survey  at  Handy  &  Co.'s,  Chiciigo. 


358         Ilahhard's  Account  of  The    Wniinbofjo  Scare. 

siik'nible  one,  and  is  worthy  of  notice,  more  as  a  record  of  the 
times  than  as  an  item  of  history  as  to  the  event  itself.  It  has 
been  v.ell  told  by  Gurdon  S.  ll"l)bard  and  Mr.  IT.  Cunninojhani, 
a  citizen  of  Edgtu-  Co.,  be_i;iunin<^  with  the  relation  of  Mr. 
Hubbard,  as  follows: 

'"At  til.  breaking  out  of  the  Winnebago  war,  early  in  July,  182V, 
Fort  Dearborn  was  without  military  occupation.* 

Doctor  Alexander  Wolcott,  1  '^iau  Agent,  had  charge  of  the 
Fort,  living  in  the  brick  building,  just  within  the  north  stockade 
previously  occupied  by  the  conunanding  officers. 

The  old  officers'  quarters  built  of  logs,  on  the  west,  and  within 
the  pickets,  were  occupied  by  Russell  E.  Heacock,  and  one  other 
American  family,  while  a  number  voyageurs,  with  their  families 
were  living  in  the  soldiers'  quarters,  on  the  east  side  of  the  en- 
closure. .  The  store-house  and  guard-liouse  were  on  either  side  of 
the  southern  gate;  tlie  sntler's  store  was  east  of  the  north  gate, 
and  north  of  the  soldiers'  barracks;  the  block-house  was  located 
at  the  southwest  and  the  bastion  at  the  northwest  corners  of  tlie 
Fort,  and  the  magazine,  of  brick,  was  situated  about  half-way 
between  the  west  end  of  the  guard  and  block-houses. 

The  annual  payment  of  the  Pottawatomie  Indians  occurred  in 
September  of  the  year  1828.  A  large  body  of  them  had  assem- 
bled, according  to  custom,  to  receive  tlieir  annuity.  These  left 
after  the  payment  for  their  respective  villages,  except  a  portion  of 
Big  Foot's  band. 

The  nig.it  following  the  payment,  tliere  was  a  dance  in  the 
soldiers'  barracks,  during  the  progress  of  which  a  violent  storm 
of  wind  and  rain  arose;  and  about  midnight  these  quarters  were 
struck  by  lightning  and  totally  consumed,  together  with  the 
store-house  and  a  portion  of  the  gviard-house. 

The  sleeping  inmates  of  Mr.  Kinzie's  house,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river,  were  aroused  by  the  cry  of  ''^7?r<?,"  from  Mrs. 

*  Says  Will.  Hickling,  as  to  the  cause  of  tiiis  war: 
.  Should  any  one  be  curious  enough  to  inquire  into  the  causes  which  led  to, 
and  brought  about,  this  so-called  "  Winnebago  War,"  let  him  consult "'  Ki>y- 
nolds'  Lite  and  Tunes,"  and  also  an  interesting  article  on  the  subject  furnished' 
the  Jacksonville  (ill.)  Journal,  August  17,  1871,  by  the  Hon.  Win.  Thomas,  of 
that  city,  and  which  article  was  also  reproduced  in  one  of  our  city  papers  a  few 
months  since,  under  the  head  of  "  Ftty  Years  Ago." 

This  speck  of  war  with  a  portion  ot  our  aboriginal  inhabitants,  on  the  then 
Western  frontier,  was  caused,  like  too  many  others  of  a  similar  character,  which 
for  more  than  two  centuries  past,  have  from  time  to  time,  been  the  cause  which 
has  deluged  our  frontier  settlements  in  blood,  by  the  wanton  brutality;,  outrage, 
and  totaldisregard  of  decency  and  right,  perpetrated  by  a  few  semi-civilized, 
drunken  wliite  men,  upon  a  portion  of  the  band  of  Winnebagoes,  then  en- 
camped near  Prairie  du  Chien,  whose  m')tto  at  that  time  seemed  to  be,  as  is  too 
often  the  ca.se  now-a-days.  viz:  "  That  the  poor  Indians  have  no  rights  which  a 
white  man  is  bound  to  respect." 


11  (ihhd nV a  Account  of  Tim  Wuiiwljago  Scare.  •>''>9 

lleliii.  oiK'  (»f  thfir  miinb-r,  wlio  fn^m  lier  window  had  seen  tlie 
flfuiici".  On  lie;irin<r  tlie  alarm,  1,  with  IJohoit  Ivinzie,  kite  Pay- 
master of  United  States'  Anm',  ha-^tily  arose,  and  only  partially 
dressed,  ran  to  the  river.  To  our  dismay,  we  found  the  eaiioe, 
Avhich  was  nsed  for  crossini^  the  river,  Ulled  with  water;  it  had 
been  ])artially  drawn  np  on  the  beach  and  Itecaine  iilled  by  the 
dasliing  of  the  waves.  Jsot  bein<:^  able  to  turn  it  over,  and  liaving 
nothing  with  which  to  bail  it  out,  we  lost  no  time,  but  swam  the 
stream.  Enterin<r  bv  thi^  north  ffate  we  saw  at  a  irlanee  the  sit- 
nation.  The  barracks  and  store-house  being  wrapped  in  liaines, 
we  directed  our  energies  to  the  saving  of  the  guard-house,  the 
east  end  of  which  was  on  fire.  Mr.  Ivinzie,  rolling  himself  in  a 
wet  blanket,  got  upon  the  loof.  The  men  and  women,  about  40 
in  number,  formed  a  line  to  the  river,  and  with  buckets,  tubs  and 
every  available  utensil,  passed  the  water  to  him;  this  was  kept 
up  till  daylight  before  the  flames  were  subdued.  Mr.  Kinzie 
maintaining  his  dangerous  position  with  great  fortitude,  though 
Ins  hands,  face,  and  portions  of  his  body  were  severely  burned. 
His  father,  mother,  and  sister,  Mrs.  Helm,  had  meanwhile  freed 
the  canoe  from  water,  and  crossing  in  it,  fell  into  line  with  those 
carrying  water. 

Some  of  the  Big  Foot  band  of  Indians  were  present  at  the  fire, 
but  merely  as  spectators,  and  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
assist;  they  all  left  die  next  day  for  their  homes.  The  strange- 
ness of  tlieir  behavior  was  the  subject  of  discussion  among  us. 

Six  or  eight  days  after  this  event,  while  at  breakfast  in  Mr. 
Kinzie's  house,  we  heard  singing,  faintly  at  first,  was  gradually 
growing  louder  as  the  singers  approached.  Mr.  Ivinzie  recog- 
nized the  leading  voice  as  tliat  of  l]ob  Forsyth,  and  left  the  table 
for  the  piazza  of  the  house,  where  we  all  followed.  About  where 
Wells  street  now  crosses  the  river,  in  plain  sight  from  where  we 
stood,  w^as  a  light  birch  bark  canoe,  manned  with  13  men,  rap- 
idly approaching,  the  men  keeping  time  with  their  paddles  to 
one  of  tlie  Canadian  boat  songs;  it  proved  to  be  Gov.  Cass  and 
his  Secretary,  Kobert  Forsyth,  and  they  landed  and  soon  joined 
us.  From  them  we  first  learned  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  Win- 
nebago war,  and  the  massacre  on  the  Upper  Mississippi.  Gov. 
Cass  was  at  Green  l^ay  by  appointment,  to  hold  a  treaty  with  the 
Winnebagoes  and  Menomonee  tribes,  who,  however,  did  not 
appear  to  meet  him  in  council.  News  of  hostilities  reaching  the 
Governor  there,  he  immediately  procured  a  light  birch  i^ark 
canoe,  purposely  made  for  speed,  manned  it  with  12  men  at  the 
paddles  and  a  steersman,  and  started  up  the  river,  making  a 
portage  into  tlie  Wisconsin,  then  down  it  and  the  Mississippi  to 
Jett'erson  Barracks  below  St.  Louis. 

Here  he  persuaded  the  commanding  officer  to  cliarter  a  steamer 


3G0  S/inb-o-7iee  'is  A  Spy. 

and  cin barking  troops  on  it,  ascejided  the  Mistsisgippi  in  search 
of  the  hostile  Indians,  and  to  irive  aid  to  the  troops  at  Fort 
Snelling.  On  reaching  the  moutli  of  the  Illinois  Kiver,  the  Gov- 
ernor (with  his  men  and  canoe,  having  been  bronght  so  far  on  the 
steamer),  here  left  it,  and  ascending  that  stream  and  the  Des 
Plaines,  passed  through  Mud  Lake  into  the  south  branch  of  the 
Chicago  River,  reached  Chicago.  This  trip  from  Green  Bay 
round,  was  performed  in  about  13  days,  the  Govenor's  party 
sleeping  only  5  to  7  hours,  and  averaging  60  to  70  miles  travel 
each  day.  On  the  Wisconsin  Kiver  they  passed  Winnebago  en- 
campments without  molestation.  They  did  lot  stop  to  parley, 
passing  rapidly  by,  singing  their  boat  songs;  the  Indians  were  so 
taken,  by  surprise  that,  l)efo re  they  recovered  from  their  astonish- 
ment, the  canoe  was  out  of  danger.  Gov.  Cass  remained  at  Chi- 
cago but  a  few  hours,  coasting  Lake  Michigan  back  to  (Treen  Bay. 
As  soon  as  he  left,  the  inhabitants  of  Chicago  assembled  for  con- 
sultation. Big  Foot  was  suspected  of  actiiig  in  concert  with  the 
Winnebagoes,  as  he  was  known  to  be  frien<lly  to  them,  and  many 
of  his  band  had  intermarried  with  that  tribe. 

Shab-o-nee  was  not  here  at  the  payment,  his  money  having 
been  drawn  for  him  by  his  friend,  Billy  Caldwell.  The  evening 
before  Gov.  Cass'  visit,  however,  he  was  in  Chicago,  and  then  the 
guest  of  Caldwell.  At  my  suggestion,  he  and  Caldwell  were  en- 
gaged to  visit  Big  Foot's  village  (Geneva  Lake),  and  get  what 
information  they  could  of  the  plans  of  the  Winnebagoes;  and  also 
learn  what  action  Big  Foot's  band  intended  taking.  They  left 
immediately,  and  on  nearing  Geneva  Lake,  arranged  that  Shab- 
o-nee  should  enter  the  village  alone,  Caldwell  remaining  Iiidden. 

Upon  entering  the  villai^e,  Shab-o-nee  was  made  a  prisoner,  aiid 
accused  of  being  a  iriend  of  the  Americans,  and  a  spy.  lie  af- 
fected great  indignation  at  these  charges  and  said  to  Big  I'oot: 
"■I  was  not  at  the  ]>ayment,  but  was  told  by  my  braves  tli;it  yi'u 
desire<l  us  to  join  the  AVinnebagoes  and  make  war  on  the  Amer- 
icans. J  think  tlie  Winnebagoes  have  been  foolish;  alone  they 
cannot  succeed.  So  I  liav(»  come  to  council  with  you,  hear  what 
you  have  to  say,  when  I  will  return  to  my  people  and  report  all 
you  tell  me;  if  they  shall  then  say,  we  will  join  you,  I  will  con- 
sent." After  talking  nearly  all  night  they  agreed  to  let  him  go, 
provided  he  was  a('(H)nipanied  by  one  of  their  own  number;  to  this 
pro))osa.l  Shab-o-nee  readily  consented,  though  it  placed  him  in  a 
dangerous  ])osition.  Tlis  friend  (jaldwell  was  waiting  for  him  in 
the  outskirts  of  the  vilhige,  and  his  j)resence  must  not  be  known, 
as  it  would  endanger  both  of  their  lives.  Shab-o-nee  was  e(Mial 
to  the  emergency.  After  leaving,  in  company  with  one  of  Big 
Foot's  braves,  as  the  place  of  (yaldwell's  concealment  was  neared, 
he  commenced  complaining  in  a  loud  voice  of  being  suspected 


The  Night  Journey.  361 

nnd  made  a  prisoner,  and  when  quite  near,  said,  "  "We  must  have 
no  one  with  ns  in  going  to  Chicago.  Should  we  meet  any  one 
of  your  band  or  any  one  else,  we  must  tell  them  to  go  away;  we 
must  go  by  ourselves,  and  get  to  Chicago  by  noon  to-morrow. 
Ivinzie  will  give  us  something  to  eat,  and  we  can  go  on  next  day." 

Caldwell  heard  and  understood  the  meaning  of  this,  and  started 
alone  by  another  route.  Strategy  was  still  to  be  used  as  Shab-o- 
nee  desired  to  report;  so  on  nearwig  Chicago,  he  said  to  his  com- 
panion, "  If  Kin  5ie  sees  you,  he  will  ask  why  your  band  did  not 
assist  in  putting  out  the  fire?  Maybe  he  has  heard  news  of  the 
war  and  is  angry  with  Big  Foot;  let  us  camp  here,  for  our  horses 
are  very  tired."  This  they  did,  find  after  a  little,  the  Big  Foot 
brave  suggested  that  Shab-o-nee  should  go  to  the  Fort  for  food 
and  information.  This  was  what  he  wanted  to  do,  and  he  lost  no 
time  in  reporting  the  result  of  his  expedition,  and  procuring  food 
returned  to  his  canip.  Starting  the,  next  morning  with  his  com- 
panion for  his  own  village;  on  reachin<r  it  he  called  a  council  of 
his  iTidians,  who  were  addressed  bv  Big  Foot's  emissary;  but 
they  declined  to  take  part  with  the  Winnebagoes,  advising  Big 
Foot  to  remain  neutral. 

On  receiving  Shab-o-nee's  report,  the  inhabitants  of  Chicago 
were  greatly  excited;  fearing  an  attack,  we  assembled  for  consul- 
tation, when  I  suggested  sending  to  the  Wabasli  for  assistance, 
imd  tendered  my  services  as  messenger.  This  was  at  first  objected 
to,  on  the  ground  that  a  majority  of  the  men  at  the  Fort  were  in 
my  employ,  and  in  case  of  an  attack,  no  one  could  manage  them 
or  enforce  their  aid  but  myself.  It  was,  however,  decided  that 
I  should  go  as  I  knew  the  route  and  all  the  settlers,  An  attack 
would  probably  not  be  made  until  Big  Foot's  embassador  had 
returned  with  his  report;  this  would  give  at  least  two  weeks'  se- 
<;urity,  and  in  that  time  I  could,  if  successful,  make  the  trij)  and 
return.  I  started  between  4  and  5  P.  M.,  reaching  my  trading 
liouse  on  the  Iroquois  liiver  by  midnight,  where  I  changed  my 
horse  and  went  on;  it  was  a  dark,  rainy  night.  On  reaching 
Sugar  Creek.  1  found  the  stream  swollen  out  of  its  banks,  and 
nn'  horse  refusing  to  cross,  I  was  obliged  to  wait  till  daylight, 
when  I  discovered  that  a  large  tree  had  fallen  across  the  trail, 
making  the  ford  inq>assable.  I  swam  the  stream  and  went  on, 
reaching  my  friend  ]\[r.  Spencer's  house  at  noon,  tired  out.  Mr. 
S])encer  started  immediately  to  give  the  alarm,  asking  for  volun- 
teers to  meet  at  Danville  the  next  evening,  with  five  days'  rations. 
B}'  the  da}'  following  at  the  hour  appointed,  100  men  were  organ- 
ized into  a  company,  and  api»ointing  a  Mr.  Morgan,  an  old 
frontier  fighter,  as  their  Captain,  we  immediately  started  for 
(^h;  ago,  camping  that  night  on  the  north  fork  of  the  Vermillion 
River.     It  rained  coiitniually,  the  trail  was  very  muddy,  and  we 


362  Vdmlrij  S,.  ,ntii(iu<j  flic   Vtriiiin'on. 

were  ohlitrcd  to  swim  most  of  the  streams  and  luan^  of  tlie  larirn 
slou^'lis,  hut  we  i^tiil  ]iuslie.l  on,  re:ieliiii<f  Fort  Dearborn  the 
seventh  day  after  my  departui  \  to  the  great  y>y  of  the  waiting 
people." 

Tlie  following  particulars  relating  to  Mr.  Hubbard's  perils  in 
reaching  Cliicago  Avith  his  volunteers  and  his  reception  there, 
are  taken  from  Mr.  Cunningham's  account;  edited  by  II.  W. 
Beckwith  of  Danville,  III* 

''We  arrived  tit  the  Yermillion  River  about  noon  on  Simdav, 
the  day  after  assembling  at  Butler's  Point.  The  river  was  up, 
i-unning,  bank  full,  about  a  liundred  yards  wide,  with  a  strong 
current.  Our  men  and  saddles  were  taken  over  in  a  canoe.  AVe 
undertook  to  swim  our  horses,  and  as  they  were  driven  into  the 
water  the  current  would  strike  them  and  they  would  swim  in  a 
circle  and  return  to  the  shore  a  few  rods  below.  Mr.  Hubbard^ 
]»rovoked  at  this  delay,  threw  off  his  coat  and  said,  "Give  me  old 
Charley,"  meaning  a  large,  stead v-going  horse,  owned  by  James 
Butler  and  loaned  to  Jacob  Heater.  Mr.  Hubbard,  mounting 
this  horse,  boldly  dashed  into  the  stream,  and  the  other  horses 
were  (|uickly  crowded  after  him.  The  water  was  so  swift  that 
"old  Charley '' became  unmanageable,  when  Mr.  Hiibbard  dis- 
mounted on  the  U]iper  side  and  seized  the  horse  by  the  mane, 
near  the  animal's  head,  and  swimming  with  his  left  arm,  guided 
the  horse  in  the  direction  of  the  opposite  shore.  We  were  afraid 
he  would  be  washed  under  the  horse  or  struck  by  his  feet  and  be 
drowned;  but  he  got  over  without  damage,  except  the  wetting  of 
his  broadcloth  pants  and  moccasins.  These  he  had  to  dry  on  his 
person,  as  we  pursued  our  journey. 

We  reached  Chicago  about  four  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the 
fourth  day,  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  severe  rainstorms  I 
ever  experienced,  accompanied  by  thunder  and  vicious  lightning. 
The  rain  we  did  not  mind;  we  were  without  tents  and  were  used 
to  wetting.  The  water  we  took  within  us  hurt  us  more  than 
that  which  fell  upon  us,  as  drinking  it  made  many  of  us  sick. 

The  people  of  Chicago  were  very  glad  to  see  us.  They  were 
expecting  an  attack  every  hour  since  Col.  Hubbard  had  left  them,, 
and  as  we  approached  they  did  not  ktiow  whether  we  were  ene- 
mies or  friends,  and  when  they  learned  that  Ave  were  friends  they 
gave  us  a  shout  of  welcome. 

They  liad  organized  a  company  of  thirty-  or  fifty  men,  composed 
mostly  of  Canadian  half-breeds,  interspersed  with  a  few  Ameri- 
cans, all  under  command  of  Capt.  Beaubien;  the  Americans  see- 
ing that  we  were  a  better  looking  crowd,  wanted  to  leave  their 

*  Mr.  Cunningham  is  at  this  time  an  esteemed  citizen  of  Danville.  He  was 
among  the  volunteers  under  Mr.  Hubbard  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  Chicago,  and 
has  related  some  circumstances  omitted  by  him. 


lUiiunis  ((nil  Michiijan   Canal  Locatal.  3C3 

associates  iind  jciii  our  eom])any.  This  fet'lini^  caused  quite  a 
row.  iui(]  the  olliccrs  tiiially  restored  hanuouj  and  the  discon- 
tented men  went  l)ack  to  their  old  coinniaiid. 

The  town  of  Chicago  was  composed  at  this  time  of  six  or  :-evea 
American  families,  a  numher  of  lialf-breeds.  and  a  h>t  of  idle, 
vairalK)nd  Indians  loitering  about.  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Kohert  and  James  Kinzie,  and  their  father,  Joliu  Kinzie. 

We  kept  guard  day  and  T\iglit  for  some  eight  or  ten  days,  when 
a  runner  came  in— I  think  from  Green  Bay — bringing  word  that 
Gen.  Cass  liad  concluded  a  treaty  with  theWinnebagoes,  and  that 
we  might  now  disband  and  go  home. 

The  citizens  were  overjoyed  at  the  news;  and  in  their  gladness 
they  turned  out  one  barrel  of  ^in,  one  barrel  of  brandy,  one  bar- 
rel of  whiskey,  knocking  the  heads  of  the  barrels  in.  Everybody 
was  invited  to  take  a  free  drink,  and,  to  tell  the  plain  truth,  every- 
body did  drink. 

The  ladies  at  Fort  Dearborn  treated  us  especially  well.  I  say 
this  withoiit  disparaging  the  good  and  cordial  conduct  of  the  jneu 
toward  us.  The  ladies  gave  us  all  manner  of  good  things  to  eat. 
They  loaded  us  with  provisions  and  gave  us  all  those  delicate  at- 
tentions that  the  kindness  of  w-oman's  heart  would  suggest, 
8ome  of  them — three  ladies  "whom  I  understood  were  recently 
from  New  York— distributed  tracts  and  other  re:. ding  matter 
among  our  company,  and  interested  themselves  zealously  in  our 
spiritual  as  well  as  temporal  welfare.'' 

In  1829,  on  January  22nd,  the  Legislature  appointed  Dr, 
Jayne,  of  Springfield,  Edmund  Roberts,  of  Kaskaskia,  and 
Cliarles  Dunn,  to  locate  the  canal,  lay  out  towns  and  sell  lots, 
and  apply  the  proceeds  to  building  the  canal.  James  Thompson, 
a  surveyor  of  St.  Louis,  W'as  employed  by  them  to  lay  out  Chicago 
in  lots  as  already  stated.  The  map  which  he  made  of  the  place 
was  engraved  on  stone  in  St.  Louis,  and  bears  the  date  of  August 
4th,  1830.  It  was  duly  recorded  on  the  county  records  at  Peoria, 
it  being  the  county  seat  of  the  county  in  which  Chicago  theu 
was.  Many  lots  were  sold  at  auction  the  same  year,  and  brought 
from  ten  to  two  hundred  dollars  each.* 

Chicago  was  now  re-inforced  by  many  speculators  and  adven- 
turers by  tlie  official  action  taken  as  to  the  canal,  it  being  looked 
upon  as  an  incipient  city,  though  of  uncertain  destiny,  yet  a  ven- 
ture worth  takitig  chances  for;  and  while  the  villagers  of  the 
town  were  watching  tiie  progress  of  the  canal  which  was  to  con- 
nect their  lonesome  jilace  to  tile  world  of  progress  to  which  tliey 
could   as   yet   only  get   occasional  glimpses,  the  forms  of  local 

*  Those  who  wish  fuller  details  of  the  action  of  the  Illinois  Legislature  as  to 
the  building  the  canal,  will  find  them  in  Brosa'  History  of  Chicago,  published  by 
Jansen,  McClurg  &  Co. 


S64  Pioneer  Ciml  History. 

fjovernment  l)egnn  to  be  instituted  as  a  fitting  preparation  for 
the  spliere  to  whieli  they  aimed.  Their  progress  in  this  UK'ier- 
taking  has  been  well  told  by  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  in  a  histor- 
ical Lecture  which  was  published  by  Mr.  Fergus,  1876,  and  runs 
«s  follows: 

"  From  St.  Clair  county,  what  is  now  Cook  county,  was  set 
■off  in  the  new  county  of  Madison:  thence  in  the  new  countv  of 

•'7  tJ 

Crawford;  in  1819  in  the  new  county  of  Clark;  and  so  little 
was  then  known  of  the  northern  country,  that  the  act  creating 
■Clark  county  extended  it  to  the  Canada  line.  In  1821  we  were 
set  off  in  the  new  county  of  Pike;  in  1823,  in  the  new  county  of 
Fulton;  and  in  1825  in  the  new  county  of  Peoria,  I  have  not 
•on!y  caused  the  county  records  of  these  counties  to  be  examined, 
but  have  also  corresponded  with  their  earliest  settlers,  and  I  can 
iind  no  otJicial  recognition  of  Chicago  until  we  reach  Fulton 
■county.  The  clerk  of  that  county  writes  me,  that  the  earliest 
mention  of  Chicago  in  the  records  is  the  order  of  an  election  at 
the  term  of  the  Fulton  county  Commissioner's  Court,  Sept.  2, 
1823,  to  choose  owz  Major  and  company  officers,  polls  atChicairo, 
to  be  opened  at  the  house  of  John  Kinzie.  Tlie  returns  of  this 
•election  cannot  be  found,  if  they  were  ever  made.  As  the  county 
was  organized  in  1823,  this,  of  course,  was  the  first  election  under 
the  organization  of  the  county.  The  same  Court  ordered,  April 
27,  1824.  that  the  sheriff,  Abner  Eads,  be  released  from  paying 
the  money  tax  collected  at  Chicago  by  Rousser.  In  those  days 
the  Sherifis  were  ex-officio  collectors  of  taxes.  The  name  indict.'^es 
that  our  Tax-Collector  was  then  a  Frenchman,  or  a  mixed-breed 
Fit'nch  and  Indian.  It  seems  that  they  had  defaulters  in  those 
4ays,  as  well  as  now. 

"  The  clerk  of  Peoria  county  writes  me,  that  his  earliest  records 
commence  March  8,  1825.  From  these  records  I  learn  that  John 
Kinzie  was  commissioned  justice  of  the  peace  July  28, 1825.  He 
was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  resident  at  Chicago.  Alexander 
"Wolcott,  his  son-in-law,  and  John  B.  Beaubien  were  commis- 
sioned Sept.  10,  of  the  same  year. 

"  I  have  also  the  assessment-roll  of  John  L.  Bogardus,  assessor 
of  Peoria  county,  for  the  year  182r>,  dated  July  25,  which  is  as 
follows : 
Tax-Payt'is"  Niinirs.  Valuatioa.  Tax. 

1  Bciuibicn,  John  B §100)  $10.0i» 

2  Clvl)ourno.    Jonas (iJO  6.25 

8    Clark.  John  K 2:">0  2.50 

4  Crafts,   John 5000  50.00 

5  Clermont,  Jeremy, 100  1.00 

■6    Coutra,  Louis, 50  .50 

'7    Kinzie,  John, 500  5.00 

^    Laframboise,  Claude, 100  1.00 


Pioneer  Civil  Iliatory.  305 

Tay  Payors'  Names.  Valuation.  Tax. 

9  Lafnimlioisc.  Joseph •"/)  .50 

10  MtKee.  David 100  1.00 

11  Piclie,  Peter, 100  l.OO 

12  Robinson,  Alexiincler, 200  2.0O 

V.\  Wolcott,  Alexander r,72  5.72 

14  Wilemet  [Ouihnette],  Antoine 400  4.0O 

"  The  entire  valuation,  latid  then  l)oiiit,'  not  taxable,  of  all  the  prop- 
erty in  Chicago  was  >^9,OJ:7,  atui  tlie  rati'  was  one  per  cent.  But  the 
property  of  the  xVmeriean  Fur  ('om])any  was  ar<?essed  to  John 
Crafts,  its  agent,  at  S,''»,nO0.  Vim  was  a  haelit'lur,  and  died  the 
next  year,  and  Mr.  Kinzie  was  a])p(iinted  in  his  place.  Dcvluct- 
ing  the  -imerican  Fur  Cora^^any's  assessment,  we  liave  only  $4.- 
047  as  the  personal  ]iroperty  of  Chicago,  in  Is25,  $40.47  as  the 
tax,  and  thirteen  as  the  numljer  of  the  tax-])ayers. 

•'The  clerk  sent  nie  a  copy  of  two-poll  books  used  at  Chicaga 
— one  at  an  election  held  Aug.  7,  182(;),  contairung  thirty-live 
names;  the  other  at  an  election  held  Aug.  2,  1830,  containing 
thirty-two  names;  thus  showing  a  decrease  of  tliree  voters  in  four 
years.  I  will  read  you  the  names  of  our  voters  in  1826,  and  you 
will  see  that  only  ten  of  the  fourteen  tax-payers  in  1825  then 
voted : 

1  AuQjiistin  Banny.    [Bannot?]  19  John  Baptiste  Lafortune. 

2  Henry  Kelley.  20  John  Baptiste  Malast.  ' 
8  Daniel  Bourassea.                                 21  Joseiih  I'othier. 

4  Cole  We.>ks.                                          22  Ah'xander  Rohinson.  1825 

5  Antoine  Ouilmette.  1825      23  .John  K.  Clark.  1825 

6  John  Baptiste  Secor.                            24  David  AIcKee.  1825 

7  Joseph  Catie.  25  Joseph  Anderson. 

8  Beniamin  Kussell.  26  Joseph  Pei)ot. 

9  Basile  Displattes.                                 27  .Tolin  Uuptiste  Beaubien.  1825 

10  Francis  LafVauiboise,  Sr,  28  John  Kinzie.  1825 

11  Francis  Lafraniboise,  Jr.  29  Archibald  Clybourne. 

12  Joseph  Laframboise.  1825      30  Billy  Caldwell. 
18  Alexander  Larant.  ol  Martin  V;insicle. 

14  Francis  Ladueier.  '     "         82  Paul  Jamboe.  ■.. 

15  Peter  Chavellie.  88  Jonas  Clybourne.  1825 

16  (jjande  Lafraniboise  1825      34  Edward  Anient. 

17  Jeremiah  Clairmore  [Clermont?]  '25.35  Samuel  Johnson.  «  ,-s^ 

18  Peter  Junio. 

"  I  will  now  read  you  the  names  of  our  voters  in  1830,  show- 
ing that  only  three  of  the  fourteen  tax-payers  of  1825  then 
voted : 

1  Stephen  J.  Scott.  17  Stephen  Mack. 

2  John  B.  Beaubien.         1825,  1826     18  Jonathan  A.  Bailey. 

8  Leon  Bourassea.  19  Alexander  McDollo.      [McDole?] 

4  B.  H.  Laughton.  20  John  S.  C.  Hogan. 

5  .Tesse  Walker.  21  David  McKee.              1825,   1826 

6  Medard  B.  Beaubien.  22  Billy  Cnld well.                        1826i 

7  .lohn  Baptiste  Chavellea.  28  Joseph  Thib "aut. 

8  James  Kinzie.  24  Peter  Fiique. 

9  Hnssell  F.  Heacock.  25  Mark  Be;iul)icn. 

10  Janus  Brown.  26  Laurant  Martin. 

11  Jos.  Laf'ramboiso.  1825,  1826     27  John  Baptiste  Secor.               1826 


;iii; 


Death  of  John  Kimio. 


12  John  L  Davis.  28  Joseph  Batiskey, 

13  William  See.  29  Michael  Wolch. 

14  John  Van  Horn.  30  Francis  Liiducier.  1826 
!•")  John  Mann.  31  Lewis  Gaiulay. 

16  David  Van  Eaton.  32  Peresh  Lodorc. 

It  is  a  remarkable  commentary  upon  the  iick^eness  of  OTjr 
poprlation,  that  only  six  of  the  men  who  voted  in  1826  voted  in 
3830;  and  these  six  Avere  half- breeds  or  Government  employes. 
Father  John  Kinzie,  however,  died  Lctwct'n  tlie  two  elections, 
upon  the  Gth  of  January,  1828,  aged  65.*  But  there  were  some 
not  voting  at  the  second  election,  snch  as  the  late  Archibald 
Clybourne,  his  father  Jonas,  and  lialf-brother,  John  K.  Clark,  who 
ended  their  days  with  us.  The  lialf-broeds  and  French  who  did 
not  vote  mav  have  been  away  on  a  limiting  and  trading  expedi- 
tion. The  voters  in  1826  seem  to  have  understood  their  true  in- 
terest, being  dependents  upon  the  fort,  as  every  one  of  them 
voted  the  Administration  ticket,  John  Quincy  Adams  then  being 
President.  If  there  were  ever  three  men  in  the  United  States 
who  electrified  the  whole  country  with  their  fiery  denunciations 
of  the  military  power,  they  were  President  John  Quincy  Adams, 
his  Yice-P'-esident  Jolm  C.  Calhoun,  and  his  Secretary  of  State, 
Henry  Clay.  Neither  of  the  three  ever  forgot  Gen.  Jackson. 
It  would  liave  seemed  malicious,  and  yet  quite  pertinent,  on  the 
part  of  the  Chicago  member  of  Congress,  to  have  asked  either  of 
these  gentlemen  whether  it  Avas  not  a  singular  tact  that,  while  Mr. 
Adams  was  President,  the  people  of  Chicago  unanimously  voted 
with  the  fort!  Ninian  Edwards  for  Governor,  Samuel  H.  Thomp- 
son for  Lieutenant-Governor,  Daniel  P.  Cook  for  Congressman, 
the  Administration  candidates,  each  received  thirty-iive  votes, 
being  all  there  were.  The  much-complained-of  military  power 
■of  the  present  day  has  never  secured  a  greater  unanimity  in  the 
•  colored  vote  of  the  South.  But  four  A-ears  later,  in  1830,  when 
Andrew  Jackson  was  President,  there  was  a  material  change  in 

*The  following:  account  of  ATr.  Kinz!  's  ileath  has  been  learned  fr.)m  Mr.  Gur- 
don  S.  Hubbard.  He  remained  in  the  full  vigor  of  health  in  both  body  and 
mind  till  he  had  a  8li<rht  attack  of  apuplexy,  after  which  his  healtli  continued  to 
decline  till  his  death,  wh  ich  took  place  in  a  few  months,  at  the  residence  of  his  son- 
in-law,  Dr.  Woolcott,  who  then  lived  in  the  brick  binldin<ir  formerly  u-ed  as  the  of- 
ficers' quarters  in  the  fort.  Here  while  on  a  biief  visit  to  Mrs.  Wolcott,  he  was 
suddenly  attacked  with  apoplexy  severer  than  ever  before.  Mr.  Hubbard  waa 
then  living  in  Mr.  Kinzit-'s  family,  and  was  sent  lor.  He  immediately  obeyed  the 
Bunmions,  and  on  comingr  into  the  room  of  the  dving-  man,  he  found  him  in  convul- 
sions, lyin^  on  the  floor  in  the  parlor,  his  head  supported  by  his  daujrhter.  Mr. 
Hubbard  raised  him  into  a  sittingr  position,  and  thus  8ui)ported  him  till  he  drew 
hiis  last  breath,  about  fifteen  minutes  afterwards.  The  funeral  sei  vice  had  place 
at  the  ibrt,  and  the  last  honors  due  this  old  pioneer,  were  paid  with  impressive 
resj>ect  by  the  few  inhabitants  of  the  place.  He  was  buried  at  the  Military 
grounds  south  of  the  fort,  from  which  place  his  remains  were  removed  ultimately 
■  to  Graceland  Cemetery,  where  they  now  lie. — [Authok. 


Early  Voting.  '>t)T 

the  politics  of  the  place.  John  Ttcviiolds,  the  Jackson  candidate 
for  Cirovcrnor,  received  twenty-two  out  of  the  thirty-two  votes 
cast.*  Of  the  pi.v  wlio  voted  at  both  elections,  and  who  voted  for 
the  Adams  candidate  in  1820,  live  voted  for  the  Jack>oTi  candi- 
date in  1830;  showiiii^  their  consistency  by  each  time  voting  with 
the  Administration,  or  more  ]>roper]y  with  tliefort.  liilly  Cald- 
well, the  Sauganash,  the  nephew  of  Tecnmseh,  voted  the  Jackson 
ticket;  while  Jose-jdi  Laframhoise,  a  noted  Indian  chief,  stood  out 
and  voted  against  it.  Up  to  1S48  we  had  the  viva  voce  system 
of  voting  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  Each  man  went  up  to  the 
polls,  with  or  without  a  ticki^t:  in  his  hands,  and  told  whom  he 
wanted  to  vote  for,  and  the  judges  so  recorded  it.  iJut  in  those 
davs  the  masses  knew  as  little  whom  thev  were  votiii"' for  as  thev 
do  now.  For  the  judges  often  read  off  the  names  of  the  candi- 
dates fi'om  the  tickets,  and  the  voter  would  nod  his  head.  There 
■was  no  chance,  however,  for  stuffiui;  the  ballot-box  nnder  the 
viva  Voce  system.  It  may  account  for  the  falling  off  of  the  vote 
lietween  1826  rnd  1830,  that  some  persons  would  not  vote  the 
Jackson  ticket,  and  yet  disliked  to  vote  against  the  fort.  There 
were  four  of  the  Laframboise  family  voting  in  1S20.  and  only  oiu 
in  1830.  The  n«mes  of  voters  in  >826  indicate  that  full  thret 
fourths  of  them  Avere  French  and  lialf-breeds.  The  judges  in  1826 
Aver(>  Father  John  Kinzie,  the  late  ^e..  John  B.  P>eaubien,  and 
IJillv  ( ■aldwell.  Theclerks  Avere  the  late  Ai'chibahl  Clvlx>urn  and 
his  half-brother,  John  K.  Clark.  The  election  was  held  at  the 
Agency  House,  in  Chicago  Precinct,  Peoria  county.  The  Agency 
House  was  on  the  North  Side,  and  was  the  second  house  built  in 
Chicago,  Mr.  Kinzie's  being  the  first.  The  Indian  Airent  was  Dr. 
Alexander  AVolcott,  who  died  in  1830,  son-in-law  of  Mr.  Ivinzie. 

"The  election  of  1830  was  held  in  the  house  of  James  Kinzie, 
Chicago  Precinct,  Peoria  county.  This  house  was  on  the  AYest 
Side,  near  the  forks  of  the  river.  The  South  Side  had  no  status 
at  that  time,  there  being  nothing  then  on  that  side  except  the 
fort  and  light-house  buihling,  and  the  log-houses  of  the  two 
Beaubien  brothers, — one  residing  at  the  lake  shore,  and  one  near 
the  forks  of  the  river,  with  such  a  marsh  between,  that  much  of 
the  time  their  most  convenient  way  of  visiting  each  other  was 
in  boats  in  the  river. 

"The  judges  at  the  electi<m  of  1830,  were  Russell  E.  Heacock, 
""^e  first  lawyer  to  settle  in  Chicago,  Gen.  John  B.  Beaubien,  one 
of  the  jndges  in  1826,  and  James  Kinzie.  The  clerks  were 
Medard  B.  Beaubien,  well  known  in  this  city,  now  principal 
agent  of  the  Pottawatomie  tribe  of  iTidians  at  Silver  Lake, 
Shawnee  County,  Kansas,  and  Jesse  Walker." 

*  His  popuUirity  was  due  to  his  frankness,  whatever  administrative  presimze 
was  used  to  elect  him.— [A.uthob. 


3(iS  Pioneer  Citisens. 

The  following:,  from  Hon.  Wm.  Bross'  History  of  Early  Chi- 
cago, continues  tlie  subject  of  civil  records,  etc.,  from  the  forego- 
ing extracts  from  ]Mr.  Wentworth's  Lecture,  and  is  here  inserted 
to  give  the  reader  the  benefit  of  his  notes  fresh  from  the  lips  of 
his  personal  friends,  as  well  as  from  his  own  observation: 

"  Our  oldQ^t  2)€r7nanent  resident  in  the  city  is  Col.  li.  J.  Ham- 
ilton. In  this  view  of  the  case,  he  is  certainly  entitled  to  the 
honor  of  being  the  ''  oldest  inhabitant."  lie  came  here  April 
9th,  1831,  and  this  has  been  his  /lorae  ever  since.  G.  W.  Dole, 
Esq.,  came  here  May  4tli,  1S31,  and  P.  F.  W.  Peck,  Esq.,  July 
15th,  of  the  same  year.  But  though  not  living  in  the  city  lim- 
its, A.  Clybourne,  Esq.,  has  beoii  identified  with  it,  or  rather  with 
the  place  that  became  Chicago,  since  xVugust  5th,  1823. 

"  Col.  P.  J.  Ilaniilton  came  to  this  city,  as  above  stated,  in 
April,  1831.  Cook  countv  had  been  organized,  the  month  previ- 
ous. He  soon  obtained  a  high  position  among  his  fellow  citizens, 
and  at  that  time  young,  and  full  of  energy  and  vigor,  and  not 
the  man  to  shrink  from  resjwnsibility,  we  wonder  that  he  was 
not  crushed  with  the  weight  of  the  "  blushing  honors"  that  fell 
to  his  share  of  the  sptjils  in  the  new  county  of  Cook.  In  the 
course  of  the  year,  he  became  Judge  of  Probate,  Recorder,  Coun- 
ty Clerk;  discharged  gratuitously  the  duties  of  Treasurer,  and 
was  Commissioner  of  Schools.  The  good  Colonel  would  find  his 
hands  full  were  he  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  all  these  offices  at  the 
present  time.  We  have  availed  ourselves  of  his  early  and  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  events  for  most  of  the  facts  which  are  con- 
tained in  some  half-dozen  of  the  succeeding  paragra]>hs. 

"The  county  of  Cook,  in  1831,  embraced  all  the  territory  now 
included  in  the  counties  of  Lake,  Mcllenry,  Dupage,  Will  and 
Iroquois.  At  that  time  Fort  Dearborn  was  occupied  by  two  com- 
panies of  LT.  S.  Infantry,  under  the  command  of  Major  Fowle» 
The  resident  citizens  were  Mr.  Elijah  Wentworth  and  family,  oc- 
cu])ying  a  house  partly  log  and  partly  frame,  owned  by  Mr.  James 
Kinzie,  and  situated  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  Mr.  If ortou 
as  a  lumber  yard.  Mi'.  W.  kept  a  tavern,  the  best  in  Chicago. 
In  the  vicinity  of  this  tavern  resided  Mr.  James  Kinzie  and  fam- 
ily, Mr.  William  See  and  family,  Mr.  Alexander  llobinson  and 
family — now  living  on  the  Des  Plaines — and  Mr.  Pobert  A.  Kin- 
zie, who  had  a  store  composed  of  dry  goods  —a  large  portion  of 
them  Indian  goods — •groceries,  etc.  Acn*  ■  riie  Ts^orth  Branch  of 
the  Chicago  river,  and  nearly  opposite  3Ii-.  Wentworth's  tavern, 
resided  Mr.  Samuel  Miller  and  family,  and  with  them  Mr.  John 
]\Iiller,  a  brother.  Mr.  Miller  also  kept  tavern.  On  the  cast 
side  of  the  South  Branch,  and  immediately  above  th(^  junction 
with  the  North  Branch,  reside<l  Mr.  Mark  Beaulden  and  family, 
who  also  kept  tavern;  and  a  s-hort  distance  above  him,  on  the 


Adjacent  Settlements.  3C() 

South  Branch,  resided  a  Mr.  Bourisso,  an  Indian  trader.  Between 
Mark  Beaubien's  tavern  and  Fort  Dearborn  tliere  were  no  houses, 
except  a  small  log  cabin,  near  the  tout  of  Dearborn  street,  and 
used  as  an  Indian  trading  house.  Xear  the  garrison,  and  imme- 
diately south,  on  the  property  sold  by  James  H.  Collins,  Esq.,  to 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company,  was  the  residence  of  Mr. 
J.  B.  Beaubien  and  famih',  who  was  connected  with  the  Ameri- 
can Fur  Company  in  the  Indian  trade.  He  had  near  his  resi- 
dence a  store,  containiui;  such  ijoods  as  were  suitable  to  that  bu- 
siness.  A  short  distance  south  of  him  on  the  lake  was  a  house^ 
then  unoccupied. 

"  On  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  immediately  opposite  the 
garrison,  stood  the  old  '  Kinzie  House,'  as  it  was  commonly  called, 
W'hich  was  also  then  unoccupied,  and  in  a  very  dilapidated  state. 
A  short  distance  above,  on  the  main  branch  of  the  river,  and  on 
the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Chicago  and  Galena  Railroad 
Company,  stood  what  had  been  the  Government  Agency  house, 
and  known  to  the  'oldest  inhabitant'  as  'Cobweb  Castle.'  That 
was  then  unocfcupied.  Dr.  AVolcott,  the  Government  Agent,  hav- 
iTig  died  the  fall  before.  In  its  vicinity  were  several  small  log 
buildings,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  blacksmith,  interpreter, 
and  others  connected  with  the  Agency.  The  blacksmith  then 
occu]  ying  one  of  the  buildings  was  a  Mr.  McKee,  now  living  in 
Dupage  county.  Billy  (.\ildwell,  thf  principal  chief  of  the  (Otta- 
wa, Pottawatomie  and  Chippewa  Indians,  occupied  another.  He 
was  then  Interpreter  for  the  Agency.  Col.  Thomas  J.  Y.  Owen, 
who  had  been  the  winter  before  a})j)ointed  to  succeed  the  late  Dr. 
Wolcott,  had  not  then  taken  up  his  residence  in  Chicago;  G.  Ker- 
cheval,  who  was  then  sub-.Vgent,  was  then  here.  Dr.  E.  Harmon, 
the  father  of  C.  L.  Harmon,  and  .James  Harrington,  of  Geneva, 
Kane  county,  had  tidcen  up  their  ivsidence  heie, and  were  making 
claims  on  the  lake  shore — Dr.  Harmon  where  Mrs. -Clarke  now 
lives,  and  Mr.  H.  immediately  north  and  adjoining." 

The  settlement  nearest  to  Chicago  in  ls:!(».  was  at  Xaj)erville, 
where  ^Ir.  Stejthen  J.  8cutt  settled  at  tliis  date,  where  u  illard, 
Ids  son,  now  lives,  1S8U,  still  atteiulingtu  hi:J  l»usinuss of  banking. 
Within  the  next  two  years  a  goodly  number' of  settlers  came  to 
the  place  by  the  way  of  the  lakes,  passing  through  Chicago, 
whicli  not  ])leasing  them,  they  settled  at  ISaperville.  Among 
tiiem  were  Mr.  Xaper,  for  whom  the  town  was  named;  Mr.  Har- 
ry T.  Wilson,  who  is  still  living,  in  Wheaton,  111.,  and  Hon.  Ed. 
Murray,  now  living  in  Naperville,  to  whom  the  writer  is  indebted 
for  items  of  historic  interest.  Settlements  were  also  begun  at 
Gross  Point  and  on  Fox  river. 

Galemi  had  for  many  years  been  a  thriving  settlement,  on  account 
of  the  lead  mines,  and  several  old  Indian  trails  led  to  it  from  th(» 


370  Dixoyi's  Ferry. 

southern  extremity  of  lake  Michigan,  as  well  as  from  the  settled 
portions  of  Illinois,  which  thei;  extended  no  farther  north  than  Ot- 
tawa. In  182ii  a  Mr.  Kellogg  pioneered  his  way  from  Peoria  over 
tlie  prairies  to  Galena,  and  subsequently  others  followed  his  track, 
till  it  had  scarred  the  green  turf  into  a  beateai  road  known  by 
the  name  of  Kellugg's  Trail.  The  next  vear  Mr.  John  Boles 
made  the  same  tour,  and  cut  across  some  of  Mr.  Ivellogg's  curves, 
crossing  the  Kock  Eiver  at  Dixon,  then  a  spot  without  inhabitant's 
or  a  name.  After  this  the  road  was  known  as  Boles'  Trail.  For 
the  next  few  years  a  large  travel  between  Galena  and  the  Illinois 
settlements  went  over  it,  and  afforded  a  small  source  of  income 
to  the  AViunebagoes  and  Sacs,  in  the  novel  method  l>y  which  they 
ferried  wagons  over  Rock  lliver  at  Dixon,  wiiich  was  done  by 
placing  both  wheels  on  one  side  of  the  wagm  in  one  large  canoe, 
and  both  on  tlie  other  side  in  another.  Thus  laden,  the  canoes 
Avere  padded  across  while  the  horses  being  detached  from  the 
wagon,  swam  behind,  led  by  their  bridles."  The  settlements  of 
Apple  River  and  others,  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  from  Galena, 
were  made  previous  to  1832,  and  also  those  on  the  Mississippi  at 
Rock  Island,  and  at  the  Des  Moines  Rapids.  Meantime,  the 
demand  for  ferriage  over  the  Rock  River  at  Dixon  increased, 
and  a  ]\[r.  J.  L.  Begordis,  of  Peoria,  resolved  to  build  a  flat  bot- 
tomed ferry-boat  there.  With  this  intent  he  built  a  small  hut 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  and  commenced  building  the  boat,  but 
the  jealous  Indians  looked  upon  it  as  infringement  of  their 
rights,  and  burned  it.  In  1828,  an  Indian  interpreter  of  French 
extraction,  named  Joe  Ogie,  by  virtue  of  having  married  an 
Indian  wife,  succeeded  better.  He  starred  a  ferry  without  moles- 
tation from  the  Indians,  and  in  1830,  sold  it  to  Mr.  Dixon,  after 
which  the  place  took  the  name  of  Dixon's  Ferry,  and  subsequently 
Dixon,  This  venerable  pioneer  lived  till  187C,  when  he  died  full 
of  lionors  and  full  of  years. f 

Chicago  was  then  in  her  germ  cell,  but  during  those  days  of 
uncertainty  occasionally  adventurers  came  to  cast  their  lot  with 
lier,  and  among  those  who  thus  came  previous  to  1823,  two  are 
still  living — Gurdor  S.  llabbard,  whose  eai'ly  adventure^  have 
already  been  told,  and  David  McKee,  wJio  came  in  1822.  Jle  is 
now  living  near  Aurora,  111.,  where  the  writer  visited  hira 
in  the  summer  of  1879.  He  was  at  work  in  his  garden,  scy'ho 
in  hand,  mowing  the  weeds  around  its  headlands.     The  following 

*  History  of  Oglo  county  by  H,  W.  Boss,  a  prcs'Mit  resident  of  Chicago. 

fMr.  John  Dixon  was  born  at  Eye.  Westchester  Co.,  N.  T.,  in  1784.  Cn  the 
l;3tii  of  April,  1820,  he  removed  to  Illinois,  locating'  near  where  tli(>  city  of  Spring'- 
lield  now  is.  where  he  remained  four  years.  Thence  lie  removi-d  to  Peoria  ('o., 
and  from  the  latter  place  to  Rock  River,  where  he  arrived  on  the  11th  of  April, 
18.'30,  and  loujht  the  feiTV  boat  of  Ogie  for  $1800.00. 

Shekwood  Dixon. 


McKee's  Narration.  -371 

is  his  story,  stibstantiallv  as  it  came  trom  his  lips,  fresh  from  the 
past — truthful  and  hiconic. 

He  was  born  in  Loudon  county.  Ya.,  in  the  year  1800;  went 
to  Cincinnati  at  tlie  aije  of  thirteen,  where  lie  remained  till  he  was 
twenty  vears  old,  when  he  started  for  (*hicai>-o  on  horseback,  by 
the  way  of  Ft.  AVayne.  Elkhart  was  the  next  settled  point  on  his 
way,  where  two  or  three  lo*^  cabins  stood,  inhabited  by  their 
lonesome  tenants.  Niles  was  the  next.  Here  was  a  small  set- 
tlement, and  two  miles  from  it  a  Haptist  missionary  station,  un- 
der the  charge  of  Rev.  Isaac  j\tcC"oy,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indians. 
The  same  man  sometimes  visited  Chicago,  and  held  religious 
services. 

At  that  time  there  were  annual  arrivals  by  sailing  vessel  to 
Chicago,  with  suj^plies  for  the  fort.  On  one  of  these  some  books 
were  shipj>ed  for  Mr.  McCoy's  Tnission,  but  while  the  vessel  lay 
at  auf'hor  outside  of  the  bar,  unloading  her  freight,  a  storm  came 
up  and  r:!led  the  waves  over  it,  and  ruined  the  books,  with  other 
portions  of  the  freight. 

He  crossed  the  Calumet  in  an  Indian  canoe  made  of  birch 
Dark,  his  hoise  swimming  by  its  side,  led  by  the  bridle.  There 
was  an  Indian  village  at  the  ])lace,  its  wigwams  built  with  webs 
'>f  ^■,\(:^ti  interwoven  together  with  the  fibre  of  basswood  bark. 
The  fibre  was  made  by  boiling  the  bark,  and  beating  it  as  flax  is 
made  from  the  straw.  Indian  mats  were  made  from  this  material, 
and  used  as  we  use  carpets.  They  also  served  as  beds  for  the 
Indians,  as  well  as  the  door  for  the  wigwam. 

Col.  J.  McNeil  held  command  of  the  fort  at  the  time  of  his 
Arrival.  John  Kinzie  lived  on  the  north  side  in  a  house  wliose 
sides  were  covered  with  birch  bark,  brought  by  the  Indians 
from  Michigan.  The  Indians  made  vessels  for  holding  water, 
maple  sap,  etc..  from  this  material. 

David  and  Barney  Lawton  were  acting  as  clerks  for  the  Amer- 
ican Fur  Company.  Both  had  Indian  wives.  David  died  at  his 
brother's  house,  where  Lyons  now  is.  The  Chicago  river  was 
then  a  clear  stream,  and  its  water  was  used  for  culinary  purposes. 

Excellent  fish  abounded  in  it,  and  over  it  hovered  wild  geese, 
ducks  and  sand  hill  cranes  in  vast  flocks,  and  pelicans  and  swans 
were  sometimes  seen.  Deer  were  plenty,  and  bear,  wild  turkeys 
ur  '  otter  were  found  on  the  Desplaines. 

o,>eaking  of  the  Indians,  says  ^Er.  McKee,  "they  are  better 
than  white  people;  they  always  feed  the  hungry  without  regard 
to  pay.     In  a  natural  state  they  are  models  of  benevolence." 

On  coming  over  the  sand  hills  towards  the  fort,  his  attention 
was  attracted  to  the  battle  ground  of  the  massacre.  The  bonea 
were  gathered  into  two  boxes,  each  about  four  feet  square,  and 


372  McKee's  Narration. 

buried  just  west  of  the  sand-drifts,  in  the  soil  of  the  prairie,  hj- 
order  of  Captain  Bradley. 

Billy  Caldwell  told  liim  that  he  buried  the  head  of  Cap- 
tain Wells  two  days  after  the  battle,  in  the  sand,  but  could  not 
find  the  body. 

Mr.  LaFramboise  told  him  that  after  the  first  fire  at  tlie 
battle,  Captain  Heald  asked  his  soldiers  if  they  would  fight  till 
death  or  surrender,  and  they  chose  to  fiirht. 

For  many  years  Mr.  McKee  had  dealings  with  Alexander  Kob- 
inson,  and  always  found  him  a  model  of  uprightness.  He  could 
not  read  or  wi'lte,  but  managed  to  keep  his  accounts  with  exact- 
ness by  means  of  characters  of  his  own  to  represent  quantities, 
with  a  pencil  and  paper.  He  was  intei-preter  for  all  the  Indians 
at  the  Chicago  agency.  > 

Mr.  McKee  was  gunsmith  for  the  Indian  department  from  the 
time  of  his  first  arrivai  in  Chicago,  in  1S22,  till  1827.  He  then 
became  mail-carrier  for  the  government  between  Fort  Wayne 
and  Chicago,  and  made  a  trip  once  a  month  between  the  two 
places  during  the  year  1828.  He  performed  the  service  on  horse- 
back, carrying  'uail  hag,  camping  equipments,  and  a  gun  to  shoot 
his  living  on  the  way.  Each  iiight  the  earth  was  his  bed,  and  the 
forage  of  the  wilderness  his  horse  feed.  On  one  occasion,  he  was 
overtaken  bv  m\  unusiudlv  severe  snow  storm,  and  for  six  davs 
he  bufieted  the  tempest,  painfully  toiling  through  the  drift:* 
which  bewildered  him,  on  his  way  from  Niles  to  Chicago.  lu 
his  path  he  found  the  dead  body  of  a  soldier  frozen  ^^•hile  at- 
tempting to  reach  Niles. 

The  first  house  at  the  fork  of  the  Chicago  river  (Wolf's  Point\ 
was  built  by  James  Kinzie,  (John  Iviuzie's  oldest  son  by  his  first 
wife.)  It  was  a  log  cabin  with  clapboard  roof  and  sides.  It  was 
situated  on  the  South  side.  Two  or  three  small  huts  were  next 
built  near  by  it,  by  Canadians  and  half-breeds.  John  Hogan 
built  a  house  on  the  South  side  opposite  James  Kinzie's  house. 

Chicago  was  yet  essentially  an  Indian  town.  Peltries  and  furs 
guns,  blankets,  kettles,  knives,  hatchets,  vermilion  and  whisky 
were  its  stock-in-trade,  and  Indians  were  its  supplyers  and  con- 
sumers.* Quiet  reigned  there  l)ecause  no  one  had  occasion  to 
oflend  the  Indians,  and  when  they  became  intoxicated,  the  squaws 
took  care  to  keep  sober,  in  order  to  restrain  them.  All  this  was 
soon  to  be  changed  by  means  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  which  will 
next  be  told. 

*  The  rottawatoniiea  paid  one-half  the  expense  of  building  the  first  bridge 
from  the  South  to  the  West  Side. —  Western  Annals. 


CHAPTER  rxiii,  ; 

The  "W  Mnehagoes,  th^  PottavKtfomies,  and  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
in  1832 — Black  Jlawl's  Village  and  Cornjield  Purchased 
Ijy  the  Whites — Fovh<ai'ance  of  the  Indians — A  Transient 
Compromise — Governor  littjnolds  Calls  for  Volunteers  to 
Drive  Away  the  Indians — They  Retire  across  the  Missis- 
sippi— Bad  Adclce  of  White  Cloud,  the  Prophet — Black 
Ilawh  returns  to  Illionis,  and  Canips  at  Sycamore  Creeh — 
The  Doq  Feast — The  Pursuit — The  Alarm — Stillman''s  De- 
fec/t — Indian  Creeh  2lassarre — Flight  of  the  Frontlerers — 
General  Scott  Arrives  at  Detroit — The  Cholera  Among  his 
Men — He  Arrives  at  Chicago — Fearful  Parages  of  the 
Pestilence — Black  Ilawk''s  Fugitive  Skirmishes  in  Northern 
Illinois — His  Retreat — Battle  of  Bad  Axe — General  Scott 
Arrives  at  Fort  Armstrong — Black  Hatvk  Brought  in  as  a 
Prisotier — The  War  Ended.  '  ' 

In  1831  the  Wimiebagoes  occupied  the  country  on  tlie  Wis- 
consin River.  Their  whole  numbers  were  about  1500.  White 
Loon  was  their  principal  chief.  He  with  some  of  his  braves 
had  fon£;ht  both  Wayne  and  Harrison,  and  had  ever  been  loyal 
to  British  interest  during  the  war  of  1812. 

The  Pottawattomies  occu]>ied  the  northeastern  portion  of  Illi- 
nois. Thev  had  also  fouijfht  on  the  British  side  duriua:  the  war 
•of  1812,  but  since  the  treaty  of  1815  held  with  them,  they  had 
been  subsidized  into  friendship  by  an  annuity  of  $5,700.00. 
Their  numbers  wert'  but  little  short  of  3,000. 

The  Sacs  anil  Foxes  were  quite  as  numerous,  and  were  more  to 
be  feared,  as  they  had  not  been  brought  so  much  under  the  ijjIIu- 
•ence  of  the  United  States.  Their  hunting  gi'ounds  laid  along 
Rock  River  and  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Iowa.  Early  records 
place  them  on  the  eastern  coast  of  ^lichigan,  from  whence  they 
were  driven  to  Gi'een  ]?av,  from  whence  they  wandered  to  the 
Mississippi.  Here  they  became  a  formidable  power  and  took 
part  ia  revenging  the  death  of  Poiitiac  by  a  relentless  war  upon 


374       Black  Hawk  Determines  to  Defend  his  Home. 

the  Illinois  tribes.  Keokuk  was  their  pvincipal  chief,  but  BIhcTc 
ll:i\vk  rose  to  distinction  as  a  subordinate  chief  by  virtue  of  his- 
daring  deeds  on  the  war-path  when  a  mere  boy.  Ever  since  the 
War  of  1812  he  had  frequently  visited  liis  English  father  at  ]\ral- 
<ien,  and  received  presents  from  him  as  a  just  remuneration  for 
his  past  services  to  him. 

Ey  the  treaty  of  1S04,  held  in  St.  Louis,  in  November,  his- 
tribe  had  sold  all  their  lands  in  Illinois  to  the  United  States,  for 
a  consideration  in  goods  to  the  value  of  $2,234.50,  and  an  annuity 
of  $1,000.  This  treaty  Black  Hawk  alleged  to  have  been  a. 
fraud,*  but  if  it  was,  its  provisions  were  confirmed  by  the  subse- 
quent treaty  of  1822,  and  also  in  1830,  on  the  loth  of  July,  at 
Prairie  du  Chieu,  Avhen  Keokuk  made  the  iinal  cession  to  the- 
United  States  of  all  the  country  owned  by  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
east  of  the  Mississippi  liiver.  This  was  done  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  Black  Hawk,  and  when  the  old  veteran  heard  of  it  liis- 
indignation  was  aroused,  for  he  was  always  opposed  to  yielding 
territory  to  the  whites.  By  the  stipulations  of  this  treaty  the- 
Sacs  and  Foxes  were  to  leave  their  villages  cast  of  the  ]Missis- 
sippi  the  next  yeai',  and  Keokuk  used  his  influence  with  his 
tribe  to  bring  these  stipulations  into  peaceable  fulflllment. 
Black  Hawk  took  the  opposite  side  of  the  question.  The  merits- 
of  tlie  case'were  from  this  time  canvassed  by  the  old  men  of  the 
tribe  as  well  as  the  chiefs  during  the  remainder  of  the  summer 
and  the  entire  autumn  of  1830.  Meantime  Keokuk  had  crossed 
the  Mississippi  with  the  nuvjority  of  his  tribe,  while  Black  Hawk 
was  castini>  about  in  all  directions  for  assistance  wherewith  to- 
maintain  his  ancient  home  on  Kock  River.  Firet  he  went  to  the 
Indian  agent  on  liock  Island,  who  informed  him  that  the  lands 
having  been  sold  by  the  government  to  individuals,  that  the  In- 
dians had  no  longer  any  right  to  remain  on  thein,  as  the  provis- 
ions of  the  treaty  of  1804  obliged  them  to  leave  the  country  as 
soon  as  private  persons  had  purchased  the  lands  ceded.  Not  dis- 
heartened by  this  set-back,  he  went  to  Maiden  to  take  counsel 
with  his  ancient  allies,  the  British.  As  might  be  expected  he- 
was  told  by  tliem  that  if  the  Indians  had  not  sold  their  lands 
they  could  still  remain  on  them  in  safety.  On  his  return  he- 
paid  his  respects  to  General  Cass,  at  Detroit,  who  gave  him  sim- 
ilar assurances.  His  resolution  was  now  tivken  to  defend  his 
home,  on  the  assumption  that  the  treaty  was  a  fraud  by  wliich  it 
had  been  sold,  and  to  this  end  he  made  a  vain  attempt  to  secure 

*  Black  Hawk  in  his  account  of  the  treaty  already  alluded  to  in  a  precpdingr 
chapter,  says  that  the  treaty  was  made  by  only  four  chiefs  of  his  tribe,  and  that 
thev  signeu  it  under  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drink.  See  Smith's  Wis.  ix. 
Hi. 


BlacTi  HcnvTc's  Village  Pnrclmsed.  375 

the  assistance  of  the  Pottuwattomies,  the  AViiiiH'l»airoos  and  other 
tribes,  unt  liis  elcujiieiice  was  wasted.  The  cliii't's  of  tlit-se  tribes 
had  seen  the  folly  of  contending  aijainst  the  United  States,  and 
were  determined  to  keep  down  the  war  spirit  of  their  young  men, 
hut  it  sometimes  required  their  utmost  exertion  to  do  it. 

Returning  from  one  of  his  missions  to  procure  assistance,  late 
in  the  autumn  of  1830,  Black  Hawk  found  liis  village  deserted. 
All  its  inhabitants  had  gone  north  on  the  usual  hunt  to  reap 
their  annual  harvestof  furs  whei-ewith  to  pay  old  debts  to  trad- 
ers, as  well  as  to  barter  for  new  supplies  to  satisty  their  increas- 
ing wants  for  the  rude  implements  of  civilization.  He  followed 
tliem,  and  for  a  few  weeks,  at  least,  the  griefs  of  this  tenacious 
advocate  of  Indian  rights  were  assuaged  by  the  excitements  of 
the  chase.  This  solace  was  brief ;  when  he  with  his  tribe  re- 
turned early  the  succeeding  April,  the}'  found  their  village  in 
possession  of  the  pale  faces.  The  fur  trader  at  Rock  Island,  a 
former  friend  of  Black  Ilavrk,  had  purchased  the  very  ground  on 
which  the  villaixe  stood,  and  he  and  liis  associates  were  makino- 
preparations  to  cultivate  the  spacious  field  of  seven  hundred 
acres  on  which  the  Indians  had  for  many  years  raised  their  corn 
for  bread  supply. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  was  a  violation  at  least  of  the 
spirit  of  the  treaty  of  1S04,  the  validity  even  of  which  was 
challenged  by  Black  Hawk.  Though  this  treaty  ceded  the  lands 
to  the  United  States,  it  ijuaranteed  the  riiiht  of  the  Indians  to  re- 
main  on  them  till  they  were  wanted  for  settlements  ;  but  in  tliis 
case  the  vital  centre  of  the  lands  in'questiou  was  purchased  by 
design,  while  the  frontier  settlements'"  of  the  whites  were  yet 
tifty  miles  distant.  Even  Keokuk  was  now  unable  to  entirely 
stem  the  tide  of  indigiuxtion  which  arose  in  the  Indian  camp, 
and  contrary  to  his  advice  a  large  detachment  of  the  tribe  joined 
their  fortunes  with  Black  Hawk.  These,  with  Black  Hawk  at  the 
head  of  his  band,  took  possession  of  their  town  and  also  of  the 
field,  nowithstanding  the  presence  of  the  white  claimants.  It 
was  situated  between  the  Rock  and  the  Mississippi  rivers  at  their 
immediate  junction.  Here  the  Sacs  had  made  their  home  for 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  hard  by  were  the  graves  of 
their  fathers,  admonishing  them  from  the  "world  of  the  Great 
Spirit"  to  defend  their  graves.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
mass  of  Indian  population  could  understand  the  binding  force  of 
a  contract,  and  it  is  no  nuirvel  that  their  sense  of  justice  was  out- 
raged when  they  beheld  strangers  appropriating  to  theniselves 
the  soil  which  thev  liad  inherited.  But  even  while  writhino: 
under  these  griefs  a  peaceable  parley  was  held  with  the  intruders 

'Western  AnnalH  Appendix. 


376  Treacherous  Compromise. 

(in  their  estimation),  and  owing  to  the  temperate  counsels  of 
Black  Hawk  his  tribe  were  brought  into  a  conservative  humor, 
and  consented  to  let  the  new  claimants  cultivate  half  the  field, 
while  the  squaws  should  cultivate  the  other  half.  Under  this 
compromise  the  squaws  ]>lanted  their  half,  but  as  might  be  sup- 
posed, this  insufficient  attempt  at  palliation  did  not  bridge  over 
the  chasm  between  the  ambitions  of  tiie  whites  and  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  Indians.  The  former  cared  more  for  the  right  of  the 
soil  than  for  the  crop,  and  a  quarrel  with  the  Indians  would  facili- 
tate this  end.  Black  Hawk  comprehended  the  whole  situation, 
and  with  a  laudable  purpose  hardly  to  be  looked  for  in  an  In- 
dian, counseled  forbearance  from  his  people,  while  a  little  hand- 
ful of  white  men  entered  among  them  (as  they  felt)  to  rob 
them  of  their  possessions  ;  but  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  for- 
bearance cannot  go,  at  least  in  minds  of  low  degree,  or  eveji  those 
of  mediocrity.  It  is  only  the  philosopher  who  can  be  patient 
over  present  griefs,  and  even  he  can  do  it  only  when  he  sees  be- 
yond, those  triumphs  which  the  recoil  of  time  are  likely  to  bring 
to  his  consolation.  But  if  Black  Hawk  himself  was  a  philoso- 
pher the  squaws  who  dug  in  the  cornfields  were  not  philoso- 
phy's ;  the  white  men  plowed  up  part  of  the  corn  which  they 
had  planted  on  their  half  of  the  field,  and  they  retorted  by  tear- 
ing down  the  fences  adjacent  to  the  white  men's  half,  and  allowing 
the  cattle  to  come  in  to  injure  the  crop. 

Pending  these  and  other  disturbances  of  the  peace,  eight  of  the 
white  settlers  imited  in  a  memorial  to  Governor  Reynolds,  set- 
ting forth  their  grievances,  which  was  presented  to  him  at  the 
executive  office,  then  at  Vandalia,  on  the  1 8th  of  May,  1831.  In 
response  to  this  memorial  and  several  others  of  a  similar  nature, 
w'hich  Governor  Reynolds  states  that  he  received,  on  the  27th  he 
made  a  call  for  700  militia  to  protect  the  white  settlers  at  the 
Black  Hawk  viila<;e,  and  on  the  same  dav  addressed  a  letter  to 
General  Clark,  su])erintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  stationed  at  St. 
Louis,  requesting  his  assistance  in  removing  the  Indians.  The 
next  day  the  governor  addressed  a  letter  to  General  Gaines,  then 
at  Jeftlrson  Barracks,  of  similar  intent.  In  response  to  these 
letters.  General  Clark  relieves  himself  from  further  responsibil- 
ity by  referring  the  whole  matter  to  Gerieral  Gaines,  who  was  the 
most  proper  one  to  act  in  the  matter,  and  General  Gaines  replied 
to  Governor  Reynolds,  saying:  "  I  do  not  deem  it  necessary  or 
]>roper  to  require  militia  or  any  other  description  of  force  other 
than  the  regular  an.iy  at  this  place  and  Prairie  .du  Chien  to  pro- 
tect the  frontiers." 

If  Governor  Reynolds  had  referred  the  entire  matter  of  pro- 
tecting the  frontier  to  General  Gaines,  instead  of  calling  out  the 
militia  himself,  it  is  but  a  fair  assumption  that  General  Gaines, 


The  Conncil.'         '"■:'.  377 

by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  tlie  United  States,  would  have 
inarched  to  the  scene  of  disturbances  and  put  an  end  to  them  by 
enforcing  an  even  measure  of  justice  between  the  two  parties 
■whose  disputes  were  limited  within  the  boundaries  of  a  seven 
"hundred  acre  Held  of  corn.  But  the  governor  had  a  difficult  part 
to  act.  If  he  failed  to  call  out  the  militia  and  give  them  a  chance 
to  hunt  Indians,  he  would  lose  the  popular  favor  by  which  he  had 
recently  been  elected  to  office,  and  besides  this  he  would  be  held 
responsible  for  any  Indian  outrages  which  the  aggressive  and 
<?a])tious  spirit  of  the  settlers  on  the  frontier  might  provoke,  and 
in  the  end  the  miserable  Indians  might  be  doubly  victimized  by 
a,  fiercer  though  tardier  M'ar  upon  them. 

Under  these  circumstances  history  cannot  blame  frank,  honest 
John  Ileynolds  for  doing  as  he  did.  Complaints  against  the 
Indians  now  multiplied,  and  General  Gaines  advanced  to  Fort 
Armstrong  on  Kock  Island,  close  by  the  disputed  corn  field  and 
village  of  J31ack  Hawk,  and  here  on  the  7th  of  June,  the  Indians 
were  summoned  to  a  council  to  be  held  in  the  fort.  At  its  session 
<Teneral  Gaines,  wishing  to  quell  the  war  spirit  among  the  Indians 
by  making  light  of  their  most  tenacious  chief,  asked  in  derision 
wdio  is  Black  Hawk?  At  which  the  indignant  chief  arose  and 
left  the  counsel  room  with  smothered  rage.  The  next  morning 
lie  returned  and  replied  : 

"  My  father,  you  ask  who  is  Black  Hawk — why  does  he  sit 
among  the  chiefs?  I  will  tell  you  who  I  am:  I  am  a  Sac.  My 
father  was  a  Sac.  I  am  a  warrior  and  so  was  my  father.  Ask 
these  young  men  who  have  followed  me  to  battle,  and  they  will 
tell  you  who  Black  Hawk  is.  Provoke  our  people  to  war,  and 
you  will  learn  who  Black  Hawk  is." 

The  conference  terminated  by  a  peremptory  summons  from 
General  Gaines  to  Black  Hawk  to  leave  the  east  sideof  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  retire  to  its  west  bank,  which  command  the  chief 
with  more  chivalry  than  policy  refused  to  obey. 

T(»  enforce  this  order.  General  Gaines  deemed  it  prudent  to 
wait  till  the  1,000  militia  which  Governor  Reynolds  had  already 
raised,  and  were  now  encamped  at  Beardstown,  should  arrive, 
■who  reached  Ft.  Armstrong  after  a  prosperous  march  of  four 
days. 

This  interval  gave  the  Indians  time  for  a  sober  second  thought, 
and  on  the  night  of  the  24:th  thev  left  their  village,  retreating 
across  the  river  as  ordered.  The  next  day  General  Gaines,  at  the 
head  of  his  own  force  of  regulars  and  Gov.  Reynolds  militia,  who 
liad  joined  them,  advanced  on  the  place,  and  on  the  26th  took 
possession  of  its  deserted  wigwams  and  cornfields. 

The  incidents  of  the  war  which  followed  the  next  year  are  still 
remembered  by  many  now  living  who  took  part  in  it.     Many  his- 


378  Good  Record  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  JVafion. 

tori'es  of  it.  are  extent,  ponie  of  wliii'li  have  made  it  ui  opportu- 
nity to  cultivate  sentiniontality  in  favor  of  the  Indians,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  fj^overnnu'iit.  Others  have  taken  tin;  opposite  ex- 
treme, and  while  stating  orily  truth,  have  omitted  such  portions 
as  M'ould  be  calcuhited  to  briiiff  discredit  to  tlie  svstein  hv  wliich 
the  Indians  were  driven  from  their  lands.  Some  historians  have 
made  it  an  opportunity  to  crown  the  brows  of  soldiers  with 
laurels.  They  have  not  succeeded  in  this  attempt,  for  the  reason 
that  the  enemy  was  too  insigniticant  to  leave  much  glory  to  soar 
above  his  ])itifnl  grave.  Any  attempt  to  conceal  or  distort  the 
conditions  which  sent  him  there  cannot  deceive  the  iinjiartial  his- 
tt»rian  who  reads  l)oth  sides,  and  compares,  discriminates  and  veri- 
ties till  the  truth  comes  uppernu)st  after  much  shaking. 

By  no  authority  has  it  been  claimed  that  the  Sac  and  Fox  na- 
tions from  1816  to  the  commencement  of  the  I>lack  Hawk  war 
in  183"2,  ever  killed  or  personally  injured  a  white  man,  and  it  is 
acknowledged  that  during  this  time  traders  continually  passed 
through  their  country,  to  and  from  the  lead  mines  of  Galena,, 
often  with  large  amounts  of  goods  and  nu)ney  without  being  mv- 
lested.  The  sum  of  accusations  aijainst  them  was  for  tearing'  down 
the  feiu-es  of  the  corn-tield  as  just  related,  and  during  the  same 
year,  1  ;'  1 ,  they  were  accused  of  destroying  some  goods  of  a  trader, 
among  which  was  a  barrel  of  whiskey,  wliich  they  emptied  on  the 
groiind — a  common  occurrence  now-a-days  among  ourselves. 

xVfter  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  had  retreated  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi before  the  large  force  of  General  Gaines,  he  encamped  oa 
its  western  bank  with  a  white  flag  flying  over  his  wretched  fugi- 
tives, who  had  little  else  but  this  emblem  of  submission  to  save- 
them  from  starvation,  and  imder  this  duress,  a  council  was  held 
between  his  band  and  General  Gaines  and  Governor  Kej'nolds. 
It  resulted  in  a  treaty  of  peace,  signed  on  the  oOtli  of  June,  1831, 
by  which  Black  Hawk  after  conflrming  the  validity  of  the  treaty 
of  1804,  agreed  to  relinquish  his  old  claims  to  any  lands  east  of 
the  Mississippi  river,  and  submit  to  the  authority  of  Keokuk,  who 
with  the  most  sensible  portion  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  nation,  were 
now  peaceably  settled  in  their  new  home. 

Both  Governor  Keyiujlds  and  General  Gaines  now  supposed 
the  difficulty  to  be  settled,  and  congratulated  themselves  that  a 
long  term  of  peace  was  assured  to  the  frontier  before  the  villain- 
ous whiskey  traders  and  the  volcanic  red  men  should  again  em- 
broil the  State  in  a  border  war.* 

*Both  Governor  Reynolds  and  General  Gaines  were  moved  with  conipassioa- 
for  the  Indiiins  in  their  wretchedness,  and  sent  them  a  liberal  supply  of  pro- 
visions to  satisfy  their  immediate  wants.  This  charity  excited  some  murmur* 
among  the  vohinteers,  who  stigmatized  the  late  treaty  as  a  "corn  treaty,"  anA 
said  they  had  better  give  them  lead  than  bread. 


•  Bad  Advice.  370 

Up  to  this  time  Black  llawk  and  liis  British  band  (as  thej 
were  called),  liad  demeaned  themselves  with  exem)>larv  moder- 
ation under  the  inevitable  destiny  which  had  forced  them  frora 
the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Ilock  River.  That  they  should  have 
clniij;  to  it  with  firmness,  and  left  it  with  painful  regrets,  was  tO' 
be  expected;  uor  is  it  strange  that  the  vehement  emotions  that 
are  a  distinguishing  trait  in  the  Indian  character  should  have 
made  them  cast  a  longing,  lingering  look  behind,  when  the  broad 
face  of  the  Mississippi  separated  tiiem  from  all  their  local  attach- 
ments. 

The  autuiim  succeeding  tlie  Indians'  retreat  from  their  village^ 
found  them  in  a  destitute  condition.  They  had  raised  no  corn, 
for  it  was  too  late  to  plant  when  they  left  their  village;  moreover,, 
there  was  a  large  field  of  corn  which  they  had  planted  now  fully 
ripe,  which  they  looked  upon  as  their  own  by  right,  and  some 
stealthy  attempts  being  made  to  gather  the  ears  under  cover  of 
night,  the  ])ilferers  were  fired  upon  by  the  whites.  But  during- 
these  accumulated  griefs,  an  affront  which  had  been  inflicted  upork 
them  two  years  before  by  the  Menomonees,  was  not  forgotten. 
This  was  the  wanton  murder  of  a  single  Sac  by  the  offending 
tribe.  To  revenge  this,  a  band  of  Black  Hack's  men,  late  in  the 
fall  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  Prairie  du  Cliein,  attacked  a  camp 
of  Menominees  and  Sioux  nearby,  and  took  seven-fold  vengeance 
by  killing  28  of  the  unsuspecting  and  unprepared  warriors.. 
This  was  in  clear  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1825,  and  the  authori- 
ties of  Prairie  du  Chein  made  a  demand  of  Black  Hawk  to  give 
up  the  authors  of  this  bloody  deed,  to  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  Nettled  as  he  was  by  the  late  misfortunes  which 
had  overtaken  him,  he  was  in  no  mood  to  do  this,  and  delayed; 
the  matter  by  a  false  pretense. 

During  the  ensuing  winter  Black  Hawk's  emissaries,  Neo- 
pope,  "VVisshick  and  Wi\ite  Cloud,  the  Prophet,*  visited  the  Ot- 
taways,  Chippewas,  Pot':awattomies  and  "Winnebagoes,  and  pro- 
fessed to  have  received  .assurances  of  assistance  from  all  of  them 
in  recovering  their  ancient  possessions.  Under  this  fatal  illusion 
he  assembled  his  people,  in  March,  1833,  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Misissippi,  on  the  spot  where  Fort  Madison  had  been  built  in. 
1804,  long  since  abandoned,  but  now  the  site  of  the  flourish- 
ing city  of  Madison,  Iowa.  Here  were  assembled  368  braves,, 
mounted  on  tough,  muscular  ponies,  not  unlike  their  masters, 
capable  of  great,  endurance,  with  slender  means  of  subsistence. 


"V'hite  Olond  was  a  Winnebago  chief,  whose  villagre  was  at  the  present  site 
of  Prophetbto  n,  \\\.  He  was  in  lull  sympathy  with  Black  Hawk,  acting  as  his^ 
oracle  and  orator.  Both  Neopope  and  Wisshick  were  also  firm  friends  of  Black 
Hawk,  ever  counseling  war  against  the  whites. 


580  Black  Haxok  Returns  to  Illinois. 

«quaws,  jaded  down  with  unceasing  toil,  and  their  quota  of 
half-clad  children,  shivering  in  the  humid  blasts  of  early  spring, 
bent  on  a  trip  to  their  old  home  east  of  the  Mississippi,  probably 
not  without  some  faint  hopes  of  re-possessing  it. 

With  this  purpose  in  view,  the  cavalry  arm  of  the  service, 
•consisting  of  the  men,  leaped  on  the  backs  of  their  ponies,  and 
"whipped  the  patient  beasts  over  the  spongy  soil  up  the  west  bank 
of  the  river,  while  the  squaws  manned  the  canoes,  and  tugged  up 
stream  with  their  materials  of  war,  consisting  of  a  few  kettles, 
blankets,  etc.  How  the  canoes  passed  Fort  Armstrong,  on  Eock 
Island,  without  exciting  the  suspicion  of  Gen.  \tkinson,  its  com- 
inander,  is  not  known.  Early  in  April  tliey  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  Eock  River,  but  little  above  the  fort.  Here  they 
•crossed  the  Mississij)pi,  in  defiance  of  the  treat}'  of  the  previ- 
ous j-ear,  and  the  whole  tribe  made  their  way  up  the  Rock 
river,  under  pretense  of  going  to  their  friends  the  Winnebagoes, 
to  plant  corn  in  their  country. 

The  wanderers  had  not  passed  far  up  tl*e  river  till  they  were 
overtaken  by  two  messengers  from  General  Atkinson,  one  briefly 
succeeding  the  other,  warning  them  back  to  the  west  side  of  the 
river  with  threats  of  war  if  not  heeded.  Black  Hawk  replied 
spiritedly  that  he  was  determined  not  to  go  back,  and  equally  so 
not  to  make  war  on  the  whites  unless  attacked.  Continuing  his 
-course  up  Rock  river  he  soon  came  to  Dixon's  Ferry,  where  he 
paid  his  respects  to  Mr.  Dixon,  its  proprietor,  explained  his  posi- 
tion to  him,  and  passed  on  with  his  fugitives,  all  behavin«  with 
•commendable  decorum,  carrying  with  them  all  the  wealth  they 
possessed,  which  was  more  ponderous  than  valuable. 

Governor  Eevnolds  having  heard  the  news  of  his  return,  imme- 
•diately  organized  a  for'  j  of  1800  volunteers  to  follow  him,  who 

Promptly  assembled  at  Beardstown  for  organization  in  companies, 
'he  command  of  this  zealous  army  was  given  to  General  Samuel 
"Wiiiteside,  a  man  of  much  ability  and  considerable  experience  in 
Indian  fighting.  Discipline  or  training  of  these  fresh  recruits, 
the  contemptible  character  ot"  the  enemy,  seemed  to  make  unne- 
-cessarvjand  they  immediately  took  up  their  march  to  follow  Black 
Hawk's  "  tranips."'  After  a  hasty  march  in  the  pursuit,  they 
reached  Dixon,  wliich  brought  tiiem  within  only  a  single  day's 
march  of  the  object  of  their  pursuit,  Bhick  Hawk's  band,  wiio  were 
-€iu'ani])ed  but  thirty  miles  above  this  ])lace  on  Sycaniore  creek,  a 
triltutary  of  Rock  River,  (leneral  Atkinson  was  now  advancing 
to  the  same  place  with  the  reguhirs  from  Fort  Armstrong,  ana 
General  "Whiteside  thought  best  to  wait  till  his  arrival  before  ad- 
vancing further.  Governor  Reynolds  was  among  the  volunteers 
who  took  no  responsibility  as  to  their  military  command,  although 
In's  authority  transcended  that  of  General  Whiteside,  and  of  him 


The  Dog  Feast  Ahrvptly  Broken  up.  381 

in  an  unlucky  liour,  a  certain  Major  (Stillinan)  bei^ged  the  priv- 
ilege of  making  a  reconnoisancc  of  the  enemy's  camp.  Tlie 
Governor  consented,  and  on  the  14th  of  May  lie,  at  the  head  of 
275  volunteers,  mounted  on  their  own  horses,  started  ont  in  giiy 
spirits  on  their  mission,  each  man  enjoying  the  stimulating  re- 
flection that  he  was  about  to  distinguish  himself  by  a  brilliant 
achievement. 

As  they  apin-oached  the  camp  of  Black  Hawk,  he  was  engaged 
not  in  the  tactics  of  a  soldier  but  in  entertaining  his  Winneba- 
go friends  with  the  inipressive  hospitalities  of  a  dog  feast,  on 
the  banks  of  the  Ivishwaukie,  a  tributary  of  Rock  river,  since 
called  Sycamore  Creek,  about  thirty  miles  above  Dixon's.  This 
feast  was  to  be  succeeded  by  a  great  council  of  Chiefs,  which  it 
is  fair  to  assume  was  intended  at  least  to  make  sufficient  show  of 
strength  to  preserve  the  "balance  of  power"  in  its  equilibrium 
between  the  red  and  white  men  of  northern  Illinois.  The  issue  at 
stake  involved  the  existence  of  the  Sac  nation,  as  Black  Hawk 
viewed  it,  for  it  is  hardly  to  be  presumed  that  he  foresaw  at  that 
time  the  eventual  ruin  of  l:is  people. 

Foremost  among  the  chiefs  ]>rese!it  was  Shaubena,  he  wdio  had 
fought  by  the  side  of  Black  Hawk  when  allies  of  the  English, 
against  the  Americans  through  the  war  of  1812.  These  veterans 
were  bound  together  by  ties  of  aft'ectitn  doubly  strengthened  by 
consanguinitv.  But  Shaubena  was  fullv  impressed  with  the 
power  of  ths  whites,  and  tliough  his  refusal  to  join  his  fortunes 
to  Black  Hawk  lacerated  his  heart,  he  nidiesitatingly  declined  to 
take  up  the  war  belt,  and  refusing  even  to  attend  the  council, 
took  his  leave  and  made  his  Avay  down  Eock  River  towards 
Dixon. 

Shortly  after  his  departure  some  of  Black  Hawk's  hunters  who 
were  scouting  the  country  in  search  of  game,  came  in  in  breath- 
less haste,  and  informed  him  of  the  near  appnjach  of  cavalry,  upon 
which  he  sent  out  three  young  men  to  meet  and  conduct  them  to 
Jus  camp. 

The  immediate  consequences  are  told  by  Governor  Reyn- 
olds, as  follows:  that  "three  Indians  unarmed,  with  a  white 
flag,  made  their  appearance  near  the  encampment.  These  In- 
dians gave  themselves  up,  and  were  taken  into  custody  as  hostage* 
by  order  oi'  the  ofticers.  Soon  after  the  three  unarjned  Indians 
were  taken  into  custody,  six  armed  Indians  appeared  on  horse- 
back on  a  hill  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  encampment. 
Without  orders,  a  few  soldiers  and  some  otHcers  commenced  \i.\\ 
irregular  chase  of  the  Indians  on  horseback  and  pursued  them 
four  or  Ave  miles.  During  this  race  in  the  prairie,  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  troops  mounted  tl-oir  horses  and  joined  without  orders- 
ill  the  disorderly  chase  of  the   Indians.    The   whites  became 


J?S2  Stillman's  Defeat. 

enraged  in  the  pursuit,  and  having  the  hest  horses,  overtook  two 
Indians  and  killed  tliem.  jVIujur  llackleton,  of  Fulton  Co.  was 
■dismounted,  and  had  a  personal  combat  with  an  Indian,  also  dis- 
mounted. In  this  irregular  running  conflict,  three  Indians 
were  killed  without  loss  to  the  whites.  In  this  skirmish,  which 
extended  over  four  or  five  miles  of  the  smooth  prairie,  between 
the  encimpment  and  the  month  of  Sycamore  creek,  the  volun- 
teers at  the  camp,  knowing  that  blood  was  shed,  attempted  to 
kill  the  three  unarmed  Indians  who  had  been  taken  into  custody 
as  hostages  under  ])rotection  of  the  white  fi;ig.  One  Indian  was 
killed,  but  in  the  darkness  and  confnsion  the  other  two  escaped 
imhurt.  Ax  the  time  Stillman's  volunteers  had  thi-s  running 
skirmish  in  the  prairies,  Black  Hawk  had  many  of  his  friends  of 
the  Pottawattomie  nation  feasting  with  him  on  dog-meat.  The 
retreating  Indians  had  almost  reached  the  camp  of  Black  Hawk 
where  he  was  feasting,  and  the  whites  at  their  heals  whooping, 
yelling  and  shouting.  This  uproar  alarmed  Black  Hawk  and 
the  Indians  at  the  feast;  and  they  in  a  hasty,  tumultuous  manner, 
mounted  their  horses,  snatched  up  their  •  "ms  and  i  ashed  out  in 
all  the  fury  of  a  mad  lioness  in  defense  ot  w.eir  women  and  chil- 
dren. Black  Hawk  took  a  prudent  and  wise  stand,  concealed 
behind  some  woods  (then  nearly  dark),  so  that  the  straggling  and 
xmmanageable  forces  of  Major  Stillman  approached  near  him.  It 
M'as  a  crisis  with  the  Indians.  They  fouglit  in  defense  of  all  they 
held  the  most  sacred  on  earth.  *  *  *  The  Indians  forced  the 
whites  back  with  great  speed,  and  killed  in  the  chase  one  white 
man.  By  the  time  the  volunteers  had  reached  Stillman's  camp  it 
was  quite  dark,  and  the  troops  at  the  camp  hearing  the  yelling, 
supposed  all  the  whole  Black  Hawk  band  were  upon  them. 
This  produced  a  general  panic,  and  the  volunteers  fled  with  their 
comrades  whom  Black  Hawk  was  chasing." 

This  was  Stillniar's  defeat,  as  told  by  the  veritable  governor 
himself.  After  the  /olunteers  had  fled  from  their  camp,  while 
crossing  a  muddy  stream  close  by  it,  10  more  were  killed,  says 
the  governor,  making  11  in  all.  The  fugitives  left  behind  them 
all  their  camp  stores  and  reached  Dixon  the  next  day  with  such 
exaiijgerated  accounts  of  the  battle  as  their  distemjjered  imagina- 
tions suggested. 

Black  ilawk  says  lie  liad  but  40  men  engaged,  and  the  gover- 
nor sets  the  number  not  above  60. 

This  ill-starred  skirmish  canie  near  causing  the  murder  of  the 
noble  hearted  Shaubena.  When  he  left  Black  Hawk's  camp,  afrer 
refusing  to  take  part  in  his  projjosed  council,  he  went  to  Dixon. 
Here  he  was  pointed  out  to  the  volunteers  by  a  nondescript  vag- 
abond named  McKabe,  as  an  Indian  spy  in  the  service  o^  Black 
Bawk,  when  in  truth,  though  a  white  volunteer,  ho  himself  had 


Indian  Creek  Massacre.    -  383 

enlisted  more  in  tlie  service  of  Black  Hawk  than  for  any  good 
1.  cared  to  do  for  the  cause  in  wliicli  he  was  drawing  ]>av,  for  he 
Lad  ever  been  associated  with  the  Indians  and  had  married  an  In- 
dian wife.  Tliis  apostato  of  civilization  knowing  Sliaubena  to 
he  true  to  the  interests  of  the  white  men,  wished  to  see  liim  killed, 
■but  fortunatelv  a  humane  volunteer  seeing  the  danorer,  Hew  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Dixon,  who  in  turn  flew  to  the  rescue  in  time  to  save 
his  life.  This  done  he  treated  liiin  with  deserved  resjject  as  a 
guest  at  his  own  house,  where  he  introduced  him  to  Govenor 
Keynolds,  .and  General  Whiteside." 

Insigniticant  as  the  ])attle  of  Sycamore  creek  was,  it  was  a  pro- 
digious affair  in  the  estimation  of  the  hostile  Indians,  nor  was  it 
a  small  affair  in  tlie  eyes  of  the  borderers,  whose  i'ears  were  aug- 
mented by  the  alarms  spread  by  the  defeated  scouts. 

Black  Hawk,  in  order  to  make  the  most  of  his  victory,  des- 
patched his  fleet-footed  messengers  in  every  direction,  to  yelp 
the  exultant  war-whoop,  and  carry  the  war  to  each  expctsed  fron- 
tier, where  the  weight  of  his  blows  would  fall  most  unexpectedly; 
■but,  tlianks  to  Sliaubena,  he  was  in  a  great  measure  baulked  of 
the  prey  he  had  counted  on  as  the  tirst-fruits  of  his  victory. 
Tliis  old  weather-beaten  veteran  had  no  sooner  heard  of  the  bat- 
tle than  he  dispatched  his  son  and  nej>hew  to  Fox  liiver  and 
Holderman's  Grove  settlements,  to  warn  them  of  danger,  while 
he  mounted  his  pony  and  galloped  towards  the  settlements  on  the 
Bureau  and  Indian  Creek.  Thev  were  phuiting  corn,  but  at  the 
treceiptof  the  alarm  left  their  plows  in  the  furrow,  and  flew  to  the 
nearest  fort,  which  was  at  Ottawa. 

Unhappily,  at  Indian  Creek,  by  a  treacherous  sense  of  secur- 
ity, a  few  families  paid  no  regard  to  the  warning,  but  to  their 
dismay  a  few  hours  later,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  70 
painted  savages  were  at  their  very  doors.  An  indescribable  scene 
of  butcliery  of  the  defenseless  victims,  and  resistance  ineffectual 
but  desperate,  immediately  succeeded.  Fifteen  persons  were 
killed  and  horribly  mntilated,  two  young  boys  escaped  by  flight, 
two  young  girls,  Syl\  ia  and  Rachel  Hall,  were  spared  from  death 
and  abducted  as  captives.  Fortunately,  through  the  influence  of 
the  Winnebagoes,  they  were  subsequently  ransomed  for  $2,000. 

Naperville.  which  has  already  been  spoken  of  in  a  ])receding 
chapter,  was  then  an  infant  settlement,  and  nearer  to  Chicago  than 
any  other.  Its  history  is  worth  relating,  especially  as  it  brings 
interest  to  the  records  of  early  Cliicago,  and  more  especially  as 
it  comes  to  the  writer  fresli  from  the  month  of  an  eye-witness, 
Mr.  Harry  T.  AVilson,  of  Wheatou,  111.,  now  ninety-two  years  old. 
The  following  is  his  story: 

*  Matson. 


384  Najpcrmlle  Settlers  Warned. 

He  started  from  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  on  the  schooner  Telegraphy 
in  May,  1831,  and  arrived  in  Chicago  the  15th  of  July  following. 
Col.  Owen  (Indian  Agent)  and  Col.  Hamilton  were  then  the 
most  influential  men  in  Chicago,  but  the  Lawtons,  who  lived  at 
the  present  site  of  Lyons  on  the  Desplaines,  were  much  depended 
on  for  public  service,  as  they  could  speak 'the  Pottawattoniie 
language,  and  were  in  great  favor  witli  them  from  their  long 
residence  and  just  dealings  among  them.  Both  had  Indian  wives. 
Isaac  Murray,  his  young  son,  R.  ]!^.  Murray  (nowjudgeof  the  Pro- 
bate Coiu't  in  Wheaton),  Josej^h  and  John  Xaper  and  L.  Butter- 
Held,  came  in  the  same  vessel  M'ith  Mr.  Wilson,  all  of  whom  on 
their  arrival  at  Chicago,  w^ere  dissatisfied  with  the  uninviting  aj)- 
pearance  of  the  place,  and  after  securing  a  temporary  shelter  for 
their  families,  started  into  the  country  on  foot  to  find  farming 
lands  for  a  home.  Passing  Lawtons,  they  kept  on  to  the  Dupage 
river,  where  Kaperville  now  is,  and  began  their  new  settlement. 
Their  milling  was  done  at  Ottawa,  and  an  ox-team  to  and  from 
it  (a  distance  of  nearly  a  hundred  miles)  was  their  only  mode  of 
transportation. 

With  the  opening  of  the  succeeding  spring  their  first  plowing 
commenced  in  the  new  settlement  to  which  many  others  beside* 
those  just  mentioned  had  come,  when,  on  the  18th  of  May  a 
friendly  Pottawattomie  came  to  them  with  alarming  news.  Black 
Hawk's  .band  had  fought  and  defeated  the  volunteers  on  Rock 
River,  and  scalping  parties  in  his  service  were  rapidly  approach- 
ing the  frontier  settlements,  and  were  now  within  ten  miles 
where  they  had  already  burned  the  houses  of  two  advance  pio- 
neers, Mr.  Hollenbeck  and  Mr.  Cunningham.  To  give  force  to 
his  statements,  the  messenger,  in  awful  mimicry,  went  through 
motions  of  the  scalping  process;  but  this  pantomime  was  quite 
unnecessary,  for  the  new  settlers  were  in  hot  haste  to  place  the 
friendly  walls  of  Fort  Dearborn  between  tliemselves  and  the  red 
scouters.  The  women  hastily  packed  their  linen  and  cooking 
utensils,  and  the  men  harnessed  the  horses.  In  a  short  time  the 
women  and  children  were  on  their  way  over  the  long  flat  prairie 
that  intervened  between  their  forsaken  homes  and  Fort  Dear- 
born, while  the  men  arranged  themselves  in  scouting  parties, 
and  took  positiona  in  the  adjacent  groves  to  watch  for  the  terrible 
Sacs.  There  were  yet  some  distant  families  who  had  not  been 
warned  to  leave,  and  the  next  day  several  incidents  occurred  of 
mistaken  identity  as  to  the  character  of  persons  seen  in  the  far 
distance,  both  of  whom  were  white  men,  and  both  suspecting 
each  other  of  being  savages  on  the  war  path.* 

*It  is  related  by  some  of  the  old  settlers  now  livinc-,  1880,  that  during^ 
the  hurly-burly  of  the  hour  when  the  inhabitants  were  leaving  the  place,  a  Mr. 


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l^ort  Beggs  Built.  y^'» 

On  the  Dupage  river,  tiortluvest  c»f  Xa])«;rvillo,  \v;is  a  settlement 
at  Plainfield,  in  which  liev.  S.  K.  i>egg6  lived.  This  early  pio- 
neer of  the  Methodist  faith  has  published  liis  early  experiences 
in  a  boob,  from  which  the  following  is  taken,  to  show  the  extent 
of  the  alarm,  and  the  condition  of  Fort  Dearborn  when  the  fugi- 
tives had  taken  refuge  there: 

"The  inhabitants  came  flyiii<j  from  Fox  river,  through  fear  of  their  dreaded 
enemy.  They  came  with  their  cattle  and  horses,  some  bareheaded  and  others 
barefooted,  crying  '  The  Indians  !  tlie  Indians! '  Those  that  were  able  hurried 
on  with  all  speed  for  Danville.  It  was  ui'ired  tliat  all  should  remain  quiet  till 
they  could  get  their  cattle  and  horses  together;  but  there  was  too  much  demor- 
alization for  that.  One  team  could  not  be  found,  and  it  wasi  thought  better 
to  sacrifice  one  than  that  the  whole  should  sutler.  So  it  was  decided  that  they 
should  move  otf  as  silently  a-?  possible;  yet  there  was  one  ungovernable  person 
among  them  who  made  noise  enough  in  driving  his  oxen  to  have  been  heard  a 
mile  distant. 

"  The  hatless  man,  and  one  or  two  otheis,  found  their  way  to  Danville  in  ad- 
vance of  the  rest,  and  told  their  fearful  .stoi-ies — how  tlie  Indians  were  killing 
and  burnuig  all  beiore  them,  while  at  this  time  it  is  presumed  that  there  was  not 
a  hostile  Indian  south  of  the  Desplaine.s  river.  At  Plainfield,  however,  the 
alarm  was  so  great  that  it  was  thought  best  to  make  all  possible  efforts  for  a 
defense,  in  case  of  an  attack.  jVIy  house  was  considered  the  most  secure  place. 
]  had  two  log  pens  buili,  one  of  which  served  for  a  barn  and  the  other  u  shed. 
The.se  were  torn  down,  and  the  logs  used  to  build  up  a  breastwork  around  the 
house.  All  the  people  livijig  on  Fox  river  who  could  not  get  farther  away, 
made  my  house  a  place  of  shi-lter.  There  were  one  humlred  and  twenty-tive, 
old  and  young.  We  had  four  guns,  some  useless.  Animuuitiou  was  scan e. 
All  our  pewter  spoons,  biisins  and  jilatters  were  soon  moulded  by  the  wouiea. 
into  bullets.  .As  a  next  best  means  of  delense.  we  got  a  good  supply  of  axes, 
hoes,  forks,  sharp  sticks  and  clubs.  Here  we  intended  to  stay  till  some  relief 
could  be  obtained.  This  was  on  Thui-sday,  and  we  remained  here  till  the  next 
Sabbath,  when  the  people  of  Cbiciigo  hearing  of  our  distress,  raised  a  company 
of  25  white  men  and  as  uiauy  Indians,  who  came  to  our  aid.  TTie  Imlians,  with 
Mr.  Lawton  at  their  head,  were  to  go  to  Big  Woods  (now  Aurora),  and  (Jeneral 
Brown  with  Colonel  Hamilton  and  three  men,  wen-  to  visit  Holdernians  grove 
and  then  fix  upon  a  pilace  to  meet  in  the  evening." 

Fresh  alarms,  both  real  and  false,  kept  coming  in  to  the  tenants 

of  Fort  Beggs,  keeping  them  in  constant  agitation  and  indecision  as 

as  to  what  was  the  .best  course  to  pursue,  till  the  news  of  the  In- 

dian  Creek  massacre  reached  them,  when  they  detei-mined  to  fly 

before  the  impending  danger,  and   on  the  tollowing  Thursday  at 

seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  tliey  started  for  C'iiicago,  the  25  men 

sent  from  there  under  Colonel  Hamilton,  acting  as  their  escort. 

Pavne  ventured  out  on  horseback  to  see  some  depredations  reported  a  few 
miles  distant.  On  his  re  urn  he  saw  across  the  prairie  a  man  o.i  horseback, 
whom  he  supposed  to  be  a.T  Indian  intending  to  cut  him  off.  He  put  spurs  to 
his  horse  to  gain  the  advance,  but  his  supposed  foe  looked  upon  him  with  the 
same  suspicion.  Both  were  approaching  the  same  spot,  and  the  race  was  an 
exciting  one  to  see  which  should  reach  it  first  ;  Payne  ."-ucct^eded,  and  put  his 
horse  in  his  neighbor's  com  crip  (Mr.  Hobson's),  and  took  to  his  heels  for  Chi- 
cago. Mr.  Hobson  soon  came  up,  and  seeing  the  horse  of  the  supposed  Indian 
scout  sweating  and  foaming  from  the  effects  of  the  race,  the  nuitaal  misconcep- 
tion was  divulged  to  him,  but  Mr.  Paymf  was  now  beyond  sight  and  bearing, 
panting  through  the  grassy  prairie  towards  Chicago. 


:'*^<5  Fort  Payne  Built. 

Tliey  reached  tlieir  destination,  a  distance  of  forty  miles,  the  same 
day,  wliich  was  a  forced  raareli  for  ox-teams,  which  were  part  of 
their  means  of  transportation.  Again  resuming  my  Beggs  narra- 
tive, he  says: 

"  Tliere  wiis  no  extra  room  for  U8  when  we  arrived  in  Chicago.  Two  or  three 
families  of  our  number  were  put  into  a  room  fifteen  feet  square,  with  as  many 
more  families,  and  here  we  stayed  crowding;  and  jamming  each  other  for  several 
days.  *  *  *  'I'he  next  nioruinfj  our  first  babe  was  born,  and  during  our  stay 
iifteen  tondiT  infants  were  added  to  our  number.  One  may  imagine  the  con- 
fusion of  till'  scene — children  were  crying  and  women  were  complaining  within 
%loors,  while  -without  the  tramp  of  soldiery,  the  rolling  of  drums,  and  the  roar  of 
«annon,  added  to  the  din."  * 

Some  days  ere  this  the  news  of  Stillman's  defeat  had  reached 
Chicago,  reviving  the  ohl  war-spirit  in  the  hreasts  of  moody  vet- 
erans wliose  bad  blood  was  again  stirred  up  from  dormant  places 
^n  their  hearts,  and  their  hopes  again  revived,  that  the  red  race 
2ould  arrest  the  progress  of  white  settlements  in  the  country. 
Billy  Caldwell  and  Alexander  Robinson  saw  this  in  their  rueful 
countenances,  and  pro]iosed  to  Col.  Owen  to  convene  a  council  for 
the  purpose  of  forestalling  any  symjiathy  for  Black  Hawk  which 
his  fortuitous  success  might  develop  among  the  young  Potto- 
wattomie  braves.  The  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the  council 
held  under  the  shade  of  a  bur  oak  on  the  North  Side.  Eobinson, 
Caldwell,  Col.  Owen,  CJol.  Hamilton,  and  others,  made  speeches, 
and  a  general  preference  for  peace  w^as  the  result,  a  feeble  mi- 
nority only  dissenting,  of  whom  Big  Foot,  the  famous  Winne- 
bagc"  Chief,  was  the  leader.  He  openly  defended  Black  Hawk's 
cause,  and  gathering  to  his  standard  all  the  inflammable  material 
which  loosely  lay  around  the  place,  he  and  his  disciples  vanished 
away,  ultimately  to  be  buried  in  the  grave  of  obscurity  always  in 
store  for  a  lost  cause. 

The  alarms  at  most  of  the  places  from  which  the  settlers  had 
fled,  were  false.  At  Indian  Creek  only  had  any  considerable 
force  of  Indians  made  their  appearance,  and  even  here  had  the 
men  all  remained  at  home  and  defended  themselves  from  some 
covert,  their  assailants  would  have  retreated  rather  than  risk  their 
lives  by  an  attack. 

After  all  the  frontier  settlers  had  taken  refuge  at  Ottawa,  Dan- 
ville and  C/hicago,  the  able  bodied  men  soon  cautiously  returned 
to  their  homes  to  look  to  their  safety  and  to  flnish  planting  their 
corn.  With  this  intent  the  Naperville  settlers  returned  as  soon 
as  thev  had  safelv  lodijed  their  families  in  Fort  Dearborn,  and  as 
a  measure  of  secui-ity  built  a  log  fort,  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  Fort  Payne,  after  one  of  their  settlers. 

Tlie  news  that  an  Indian  war  had  broken  out  on  the  north- 
western frontier,  rapidly  spread  throughout  every  hamlet  in  the 

"  ♦Early  History  of  Tlie  North  West  by  S.  R.  Beggs,  P.  103. 


General  Scott  Ordered  to  Chlcnqo.       .  3S7" 

middle  and  eastern  States.  A  yoini;;  i,'C'iuM-atioii  luid  grown  into 
manhood  since  the  hist  serious  Indian  distnrhance,  but  its  his- 
tory which  liad  been  told  them  hv  their  fathers,  was  a  laniiliar 
t^le.  and  a  ve})etition  of  it  was  now  considered  possible.  The 
press  of  the  country  teemed  with  speculations,  as  to  what  was  to  be 
the  result  of  the  war  which  Mas  regarded  as  of  more  importance 
tlian  the  facts  would  warrant  if  hnown.  Abundant  food  for 
romance  was  jeconoinized  out  of  the  situation,  and  a  volume  of 
hasty  poetry  was  published,  entitled  Black  Hawk  and  Scenes  in 
The  West,  which  met  with  a  ready  sale.  Under  this  ])ressure 
measures  were  promptly  taken  by  the  administration  at  Wash- 
ington to  meet  the  crisis.  Nine  companies  were  detailed  for 
this  purpose,  and  ]>laced  under  the  command  of  General  Scott. 
Among  them  was  a  class  of  cadets  (war  students),  from  West 
Point,  who  took  the  occasion  to  put  in  practice  an  art  which  the 
peaceful  prosperity  of  tlK)se  times  threatened  with  disuse.  On 
the  J  St  of  July  they  arrived  at  Detroit.  This  was  the  great  Met- 
roj>olit.an  centre  of  the  Upper  Lake  country,  beyond  which  was  a 
limitless  wild  relieved  only  by  settlements  feeble  in  numbers,  and 
mushroom  towns  far  apart  fron)  each  other.  While  General  Scott 
was  making  a  brief  rest  at  this  place,  two  men  on  boa;  1  his 
transports  were  taken  violently  sick  and  died  in  a  few  hours, 
despite  the  best  eiForts  of  his  physicians.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  asiatic  cholera  on  the  Upper  Lakes,  General  Scott  hastened 
his  departure  and  proceeded  as  far  as  Ft.  Gratiot,  near  the  outlet 
of  Lake  Huron,  where  he  left  280  of  his  force  besides  the  young 
cadets,  whose  warlike  zeal  was  now  considerably  abated  by  the 
presence  of  an  enemj'  in  their  midst  more  formidable  than  Black 
Hawk.*  While  General  Scott  is  taking  his  course  to  Chicago  on 
board  the  steamer  Sheldon  Thompson,  his  physicians  are  eking  out 
the  fearful  hours  in  their  vain  attempts  to  purge  the  cholera  from 
their  midst,  and  the  soldiers  were  dropping,  one  after  anotiier  of 
their  companies  into  the  sea,f  let  us  see  what  was  going  on  at 
the  place  of  his  destination. 

Going  back  but  a  few  days,  the  place  had  been  the  centre  of 
an  excitement  seldom  equalled  even  in  the  casualties  of  frontier 
life.  The  large  number  of  fugitives  gathered  here,  all  looked  to 
Col.  Owen  to  supply  them  with  such  necessities  as  helpless 
women  and  children  must  have  or  perish;  and  to  add  to  his  re- 


*The  fate  of  these  young  men  sent  a  wave  of  grief  and  sorrow  throughout  the 
country.  Nearly  all  of  them  died  of  cholera  at  the  fort  or  perished  hTce  beiists 
of  the  field  alone  in  some  wretched  shed  or  humid  forest  in  their  vain  attempts 
to  fly  before  the  destroyer,  for  no  one  dared  i  o  receive  them  within  their  doora 
for  fear  of  this  pestilence.     Browns  Hist,  of  111. 

t30  died  on  the  passage  and  were  thrown  into  the  lake. 


General  Scott  at  Chicago. 

sponsibilities,  most  of  tlie  luisbands  of  tliPsJo  fugitive  women  wore 
away  scouting  the  country  with  commendable  courage  for  the 
protection  of  their  homes.  Every  available  s})ace  in  the  fort  was 
filled,  and  hastily  constructed  camps  and  temporary  sleeping 
booths  were  constructed  outside  of  it,  within  the  reach  ot  its 
guns.* 

While  these  fugitives  were  amusing  themselves  as  best  they 
could  to  kill  the  long  days  of  July,  the  sound  of  a  cannon  broke 
the  silence  of  the  morning.  All  eyes  turned  towards  the  lake, 
and  there  was  an  approaching  sail.  Succeeding  ])iifFs  of  smoke, 
with  a  corresponding  number  of  reports  after  brief  intervals  of 
time,  threw  the  town  into  transports,  and  almost  everybody  flew 
to  the  beach.  The  vessel  approached  the  mouth  of  the  river,, 
cast  her  anchor  and  lowered  her  boats.  Into  these  the  soldiers 
leaped,  and  soon  came  rowing  up  the  Chicago  river,  amidst  the 
huzzas  of  the  assembled  spectators.  This  was  a  small  command 
under  Major  William  Whistler,  the  son  of  the  same  who  had 
built  the  tirst  Ft.  Dearborn  in  1803— i.f  He  came  as  an  adv^ance 
of  General  Scott  to  make  preparations  for  his  arrival.  Those 
who  were  sheltered  in  the  fort  were  required  to  leave  it,  which 
they  did  at  once,  and  most  of  them  returned  to  their  homes,  the 
alarm  having  now  partially  subsided. 

A  week  after  the  arrival  of  Captain  Whistler-^on  the  8th  of 
July,  at  the  small  hours  of  the  morning  (2  o'clock), — the  inhabi- 
tants of  Chicago  were  awakened  by  an  outcry  in  the  streets ;  Gen . 
Scott's  army  had  arrived  and  were  in  the  fort,  and  his  soldiers 
dying  with  cholera-  This  king  of  terrors  had  made  whole  con- 
gregations'turn  pale  with  fear  in  the  east,  and  the  settlers  of 
Cliicago  were  not  proof  against  its  alarms.  When  the  broad 
light  of  morning  came,  says  jin  eye  witness,  hardly  a  resident  was 
to   be  seen,  for  nearly  all  had  fled.     Among  the  dwellers  at  the 

*  A  raft  of  lumber  belonglnsr  to  Noble  Bros,  (mei'chants)  was  used  for  this 
purpose. 

t  On  board  the  vessel  with  Major  Whistler,  were  his  wife,  two  daughters  and 
a  Hon.  This  wife  has  for  several  years  past  been  known  to  the  people  of  Chica- 
fio  as  Mrs.  Col.  Whistler,  the  oldest  liviiijf  witiifss  i»f  tiif  building  of  the  first 
Fort  Deaibom,  in  180?M^.  She  was  married  to  (,'aptain  Wliistler  at  Detroit,  io 
1S02.  beinjr  then  only  fourteen  years  and  a  tew  months  old.  and  a  fow  months 
atterwards  came  with  her  husband  and  his  fathtu'  to  (Jhica<j:o  to  build  the  tort, 
as  stated  iu  foregoing  pages.  During  the  siege  of  DeUoit,  in  181'J.  her  husband 
being  an  officer  under  General  Hull,  she  with  liini  was  taken  prisoner  at  ih" 
surrender.  Since  her  husband's  death,  her  home  has  been  ))art  of  the  time  m 
Cliicago,  and  part  of  the  time  in  Newport,  Ky.,  at  which  latter  place  she  died, 
Feb.  12,  1878,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  Gwinthlean,  afterwards  the 
wife  and  now  the  widow  of  Rober,  A.  Kinzie,  was  one  of  her  daughters  on 
board  the  vessel,  as  above  described,  and  to  her  is  the  writer  indebted  for  the 
above  item. 


Thi  Cholera.      •  ^S9 

■forks  of  the  river  wlio  remained  were  Iiulijin  Twohiiison,  John 
Miller  and  I'enjamin  Hall.  Dr.  DeCainp,  the  arniy  ])ii\>i(;ian, 
]troniptly  called  on  the?-e  reinainini>-  ones  and  allayed  their  tears, 
<-ounselin<:^  them  not  to  leave,  assiirinc;  them  that  the  disease 
would  he  confined  to  the  i^arrison.  The  tieeers  soon  returned  and 
hut  one  of  them  was  attacked,  hut  to  the  devoted  garrison  there 
■vvas  no  escape  from  tiie  appalling  situation.  To  leave  the  fort 
was  to  expose  themselves  to  the  censure  of  whomsoever  they 
might  meet,  even  if  it  were  pos-ihle  to  do  such  a  thing  in  deti- 
tince  of  the  sentinel;  while  to  remain  inside  and  witness  the 
■carnival  of  death  which  was  going  on  there,  required  more  com- 
]>osr.re  than  could  be  expected  of  the  average  soldier. 

Black  Hawk  was  now  stealthily  traversing  the  country,  his  war 
parties  threatejiing  portions  of  the  frontier.  But  Gen.  Scott  wa.s 
in  no  condition  to  take  the  offensive,  for  it  was  all  the  well  ones 
-could  do  to  tMke  care  of  the  sick  and  bury  the  dead.  Ere  the 
■contagii^n  liad  spent  its  force  ninety  of  his  men  had  fallen  victims 
and  been  buried  without  the  usual  military  honors  of  a  soldier 
•or  even  the  civil  usnages  of  a  coffin.  AVlien  the  last  spark  of  life 
■was  supposed  to  l>e  gone  out  the  coi-pse  was  hastened  to  the 
grave  which  was  ever  ready  to  receive  him.  and  two  men  with 
spades  ready  to  interpose  a  few  feet  of  earth  between  the  decaying 
mass  of  contaariou  and  the  living  world  above  ground.*  On  one 
of  these  occasions  a  premature  subject  was  brought  enveloped  in 
Jiis  burial  blanket ;  but  just  before  he  was  lowered  the  uncon- 
scious soldier  called  for  water.  He  was  returned  to  the  hospital, 
and  in  a  few  days  recovered  his  usual  health. f 

^(A  even  the  terrors  of  Black  Hawk's  war-parties  would  have 
driven  the  surrounding  settlers  to  Chicago  while  the  cholera 
was  there,  and  had  this  pestilence  come  18  days  sooner,  when  the 
massacre  of  Indian  creek  occurred,  the  imha]>py  settlers  of  Nap- 
■erville  and  Fox  river  would  probably  have  made  a  desperate 
determination  to  defend  their  homes  against  the  Indians  rather 
than  encounter  the  dangers  of  the  new  and  subtle  enemy  of  man- 
kind, that  had  even  threatened  annihilation  to  the  sohliers  who 
had  come  to  defend  them. 

Leaving  Gen.  Scott  in  his  fatal  duress  at  Fort  Dearborn,  let  us 
turn  to  the  Indian  war  parties,  Avho  were  now  skimming  over  the 
prairies  in  voiceless  silence,  ready  to  make  sudden  dashes  upon 
j)laces  supposed  to  be  defenceless,  Black  Hawk  himself,  all  the 

'The  burying  ground  was  at  the  foot  of  Madison  street,  on  the  lake  shore. 
-A\)out  1840.  ami  hit<'r,  the  erosion  of  thi^  hike  washed  away  portions  of  it,  ex- 
Liiosinjf  to  view  the  buics  of  the  victims  to  the  cholera. 

« 

■* Brown's  History  of  Illinois,  p.  ^75. 


.  3&()  Black  Hawk  lietreaU. 

■while  at  the  head  of  liis  army,  small  in  miuibers,  deficient  in  sup- 
plies and  inadecjuate  to  meet  his  adverr^aries  in  tlie  open  field' 
with  the  faintest  hope  of  sncceps.  But  however  apjiarent  tliest^ 
conditions  were  to  him,  his  ability'  to  impress  them  upon  the  un- 
controllable spirits  of  his  followers  was  wanting,  liaulked  iu  bin 
attempt  to  ally  the  Winnebago  and  Pottawattomie  nations  to  nis 
standard,  he  found  himself  the  leader  of  a  horde  of  sanojuinarv  hot- 
spurs,  full  of  courage  and  destitute  of  discretion.  It  was  com- 
posed of  the  worst  elements  of  his  own  tribe  and  a  lawless  renegatlo 
escapement  from  the  tribes  whose  support  in  an  evil  hour  he  had 
counted  on,  by  virtue  of  the  treacherous  advice  'h  Neopope 
Wabokiesliiek  and  the  prophet. 

Most  of  the  fugitives  from  the  disgraceful  field  of  Stillnian's- 
run  reached  Gen.  Whiteside's  headquarters  in  a  few  hours,  with 
their  zeal  for  Indian  fighting  spent  in  a  30-mile  race  over  the 
prairies,  by  which  the  horses  that  carried  them  wer(*  not  less  ex- 
hausted than  the  courage  of  their  riders. 

General  Whiteside  was  now  in  an  awkward  position.  Hi--^ 
whole  army  had  been  without  rations  for  two  days,  and  confine<l 
to  a  diet  of  parched  corn.  In  this  emergencv,  Mr^Dixon  with 
patriotic  generosity,  offered  his  stock  of  cattle  for  their  subsistence- 
till  stores  could  be  brought.  The  cattle  were  butchered  and  the 
hungry  vohinteers  ate  the  meat  without  bread  or  potatoes,  al- 
though it  was  lean  and  tough.*  The  next  day  afteif  tlie  skirmish 
General  Whiteside  led  his  entire  force  to  its  scene.  It  was  a  sol- 
itude. There  were  the  tent-marks  of  Black  Ilawk^s  army  and 
the  lifeless  bodies  of  11  slain  volunteers  diveste<i  of  their  scalps,, 
which  were  doubtless  dangling  from  the  belN  of  as  many  Sac 
warriors.  Black  Hawk  had  gone  nortli,  it  wa*  supposed,  to  tlie 
region  of  the  Four  lake  country,  in  Wisconsin.f  General  White- 
side's army  now  amounted  to  2400  men,  and  had  he  followed 
Black  Hawk  promptly  the  war  might  have  b?en  ended  in  two  or 
three  weeks;  for  the  Indians,  encumbered  as  they  were  with  their 
squaws  and  children,  must  have  been  easily  overtaken,  and  ctnild 
neither  have  defended  themselves  Kgaliist  sueh  odds  or  escaped 
by  flight.  But  the  volunteers  were  by  tliL  time  surfeited  with. 
camp  life,  especially  with  Indian  fighting;  the  time  for  which 
they  had  enlisted  had  nearly  expired,  and  tliey  presented  but  a 

•Ford. 

t  The  Four  lake  countiy  wsw  eompoued  of  th»^  two  boantifnl  lakes  that  now 
almost  environ  the  picturesque  city  of  M.ailis'>n  and  two  others  below  it,  all 
joined  by  the  waters  of  Cathuh  creek,  having  its  outlet  in  Kwk  river  a  tew 
miles  below  Kosh-ko-noriff  lake.  So  little  wa.s  then  known  of  Ihis  delightful 
region  that  even  its  locality  was  not  understood  by  any  of  the  volunteers,  and. 
Winnebago  pilots  were  employed  to  direct  the  course  of  the  army  when  it  toot 
up  its  march  for  the  place. 


Tfie  Volunteers  Discharged.  "       391 

sorry  dependence  on  wliicli  torely  for  cunqiiei-ing  a  foe,  tliongh 
small,  jaded  to  desperation.  iJnder  these  «uri'omidings.  General 
Whiteside  was  oblifijed  to  yield  the  honors  of  a  victory  at  hand 
to  the  capricious  discontent  of  the  volunteers,  and  they  were 
inarched  back  to  Ottawa,  where  tliey  were  discharged  by  Gover- 
nor Jleynolds  on  tlie  27th  and  2Sth  of  May  * 

After  the  volunteers  left  J)ixon,  General  Atkinson  enti-enched 
his  Civnip  and  remained  there  with  the  reinforcements  he  had 
brought  from  Ft.  Armstrong.  The  necessity  of  immediately 
raising  new  recruits  to  push  the  war  was  pressing,  foi'  without 
them  the  Winnebajjoes,  and  even  the  Pottawatomies  miffht  have 
looked  UDon  Black  Hawk  as  the  winner,  and  joined  his  standard. 
Accordingly  Gov.  Reynolds  gave  orders  for  raising  2,000  men  to 
take  the  place  of  the  discharged  soldiers.  A  few  of  the  latter, 
however,  with  commendable  patriotism  re-enlisted  for  a  few  days 
in  order  to  defend  the  frontier  till  the  new  recruits  could  be 
brought  into  service.  Col.  Jacob  Fry  commanded  them.  James  D. 
Henry  was  his  lieutenant,  and  John  Thomas,  major.  Gen.  White- 
side, with  a  zeal  both  laudable  and  modest,  enlisted  in  the  private 
ranks.  The  chaff  of  the  late  volunteer  army  returned  to  their 
homes,^.aiid  the  true  soldierly  material  just  organized  out  of  it 
prcimptly  distributed  themselves  in  small  2)arties  to  the  most  ex- 
posed frontiers. 

To  fight  Indians  in  regular  pitched  battles  is  not  attended 
with  much  danger  to  the  white  combatants,  but  to  meet  them 
noiselessly,  crawling  on  the  ground  like  serpents  to  attack  some 
unsuspecting  settlement,  puts  to  test  the  mettle  of  a  soldier.  An 
attack  of  this  kind  was  planned  against  the  new  settlements  east 
of  Galena,  to  guard  against  which  Capt.  xVdam  W.  Snyder  had 
been  .^detached  with  a  small  company.  While  thus  engaged  on 
tlte  l7th  of  June,  as  the  tedious  hours  of  night  were  wearing 
away,  some  hostile  shots  were  fired  into  their  camp  from  an  in- 
visible foe.  The  next  morning  they  followed  the  intruders  to  a 
sink-hole  hard  by,  into  which  treacherous  covert  the  Indians  had 
taken  refuge.  A  charge  was  made  upon  them,  as  if  a  small  army 
lay  concealed  there,  wliich  resulted  in  the  killing  of  the  whole, 
only  four  in  number.  One  of  Snyder's  men  was  mortally  wounded. 
Resting  under  a  supposition  that  they  had  killed  all  the  Indians 
in  the  vicinity,  they  took  up  tiieir  wounded  man  and  started  for 
their  camp,  soon  heedlessly  scattering  in  different  directions  in 

Juest  of  water,  when  they  were  suddenly  attacked  by  about  70 
ndians  who  had  watched  their  motions  from  the  first.     The  men 
thought  only  to  save  themselves  by  flight,  but  fortunately  (tcu. 

•  •  Ford's  Hist,  of  111.,  p.  124, 


r>92      '  .  Rev.  Adam  Payne.  ^ 

Whiteside  was  among  them,  and  upon  him  the  captain  called  for 
assistance  to  rally  the  men.  This  veteran  declaring  lie  would 
shoot  the  first  man  who  started  to  run,  resolution  took  the  place 
of  fear,  and  the  men  stood  their  ground.  This  done,  the  battle 
])egan  in  earnest,  but  was  soon  terminated  by  a  shot  from  Gen. 
Whiteside  which  killed  the  leader  of  the  Indians,  and  thev  all 
fled  without  further  resistance,  carrying  away  their  dead.  Two 
white  men  were  killed,  and  one  wounded.* 

Two  davs  before  this  affair  the  new  levies  had  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Yermilion  river,  from  whence  they  were  marched 
to  Ft.  Wilburn,  where  they  were  mustered  into  service  and  di- 
vided into  three  brigades,  commanded  respectively  by  Gen. 
Alexander  Posey,  Gen  Milton  K.  Alexander,  and  Gen.  James  D. 
•Henry,  Besides  these,  a  company  of  rangers  under  command 
of  Maj.  Bogart,  were  to  guard  the  frontier  of  Southern  Illinois, 
while  the  three  divisions  were  to  marclr  in  pursuit  of  Black 
Hawk,  the  architect  of  all  this  commotion,  which  had  now  drawn 
over  3000  men  from  the  plow  to  the  soldiers'  ranks,  besides  the 
first  volunteers  who  had  just  been  discharged. 

While  these  formidable  preparations  had  been  on  foot,  the 
murderous  disposition  of  bad  Indians  had  been  ventilated  on 
numerous  unhappy  victims  who  by  chance  had  been  exposed  to 
their  merciless  as  well  as  indiscriminate  fnry. 

On  a  bright  morning  a  little  past  the  middle  of  May,  the  peo- 
ple of  Chicago  were  attracted  to  the  fort  by  tlie  voice  of  singing. 
Just  outside  its  walls  stood  the  tall  and  manly  form  of  Kev.  Adam 
Payne,  whose  musical  and  sonorous  voice  had  reached  the  utter- 
itKtst  limits  of  the  town,  and  drawn  thither  an  audience.  A  ser- 
mon followed  from  this  eloquent  enthusiast,  which  for  fervor  and 
religious  efiect,  might  have  satisfied  the  ambition  of  aKnapp  or 
a  Moody.  Soldiers,  tra<lers,  and  even  the  elastic  half-breeds, 
t*howed  signs  of  contrition  which  nmst  have  been  gratifying  to 
the  itinerant  apostle  of  the  Dunkard  faith,  as  his  voice  mellowed 
into  pathos  under  the  sympathetic  inspiration  of  the  occasion. 
Mr.  Payne  was  on  his  way  fnun  Ohio  to  visit  his  brother,  Aaron 
Payne,  who  lived  in  Putiuim  county.  111.,  and  immediately  after 
his  discourse,  to  which  the  people  of  Chicago  had  paid  such  re- 
s])ectful  attention,  mounted  his  horse,  and  starting  on  his  journey, 
si>t>n  vanished  out  of  sight  over  tiie  prairies.  The  first  night 
he  reached  tiie  house  of  llev.  S.  R.  Beggs,  on  the  j)resent  site  of 
Plainfield.  Here  he  found  his  brother-])reacher  with  his  house 
Itarricaded  like  a  fort,  so  "jreat  was  the  fear  of  hostile 
Jndians,  as  ab'eady  stated.  I>ut  all  this  did  not  dishearten 
the     Pilgrim    J'reacher.     He    had    often    traveled    the    route 


*Bo»8.  Hist,  of  Ogle  County. 


Death  of  St.  Vrain.  393 

iK'fore,  and  having  preached  to  the  Indians  witli  good  ef- 
fect, he  relied  on  his  early  friendships  with  thetn  for  safety. 
Under  thi.s  ill-founded  sense  of  security,  lie  started  the 
next  morning  in  a  |_south-west  direction  across  the  wilds, 
towards  Ottawa,  much  against  the  admonitions  of  liis  friends, 
who  assured  him  that  the  country  was  full  of  hostile  Indians. 
He  was  mounted  on  a  fleet  horse,  and  by  means  of  a  spy-glass 
whicli  he  carried  in  his  pocket,  he  felt  sure  he  could  detect  the 
(Character  of  any  Indians  he  might  see,  at  a  sufficient  distance  to 
keep  out  of  the  way,  if  hostile.  This  is  tlie  last  ever  seen  of  him 
liy  his  friends  while  living.  Two  or  three  days  subsequently,  as 
( 'oldiiel  Moore's  regiment  were  on  their  way  from  Joliet  to  Fort 
Wilbiirn.  his  advance  guard,  under  charge  of  Colonel  Hubbard, 
saw  a  ]y.uv  of  saddle-bags  lying  on  the  prairie  about  three  miles 
from  Iloldcrraan's  Grove.  A  fresh  trail  in  the  tall  grass  leading 
from  the  saddle-bags,  was  immediately  followed  about  an  eighth 
of  a  mile,  where  the  dead  body  of  the  preacher  was  found.  The 
head  was  not  severed  from  the  body,  says  Mr.  Hubbard,  bnt  the 
f'Calp  was  taken,  including  his  long  beard.  In  tlie  saddle-bags 
lii^  hymn  book  was  left  by  the  murderous  wretches  who  killed 
the  lamented  preacher,  for  this  was  the  last  thing  which  could  be 
of  any  service  to  them. 

Aniund  the  dead  body  of  the  preacher  the  grass  was  leveled, 
giving  proof  that  he  defended  himself  in  a  fierce  encounter  with, 
his  murderers.  Mr.  Hubbard  caused  his  remains  to  be  imme- 
<iiately  buried,  and  his  party  passed  on.* 

After  the  volunteers  had  left  Dixon,  Gen.  Atkinson  continued 
to  hold  the  place,  but  dared  not  take  the  offensive  against  Black 
Hawk,  especially  as  he  had  no  means  of  knowing  the  amount  of 
his  force.  Under  these  circumstances,  he  wished  to  send  a  com- 
mxmication  to  Galena.  The  mission  was  a  dangerous  one,  but 
St.  Vrain,  a  former  Indian  agent  of  the  Sacs,  liau  the  hardihood 
to  undertake  it.  He  started,  with  h  few  companions,  on  the  2l2nd 
of  May.  Only  six  days  after  the  volunteers  liad*left,  but  ere  he 
reached  his  destiiuition,  he  met  a  party  of  Sacs,  led  by  Little 
Bear,  whom,  having  becm  a  former  frietul,  he  approached  in  the 
attitude  of  peace.  But  Little  Bear  was  (hi  the  war-])ath,  and 
massacred  the  whole  party,  except  two  who  had  escaped,  with  as 
little  hesitatioti  as  he  would  kill  an  enemy  on  the  battle-field, 
allegiug  as  a  cause  that  St.  Train  liad  assisted  Gen.  Gaines  in 
driving  the  Sacs  across  the  Mississippi. 

Soon  afterwards,  a  Mr.  Smith  was  killed  near  the  Blue  Mounds, 
and  Mr.  Winters,  a  mail   contractor,  six    miles    from    Dixon. 


•'ITiis  account  has  been  taken   from  Mr.  Hubbard  hiuuelf.     Others  who  have 
«tati'd  the  affair  differently,  hick  authenticity. 


394  Stephenson'' s  Fatal  Skirmhh, 

Another  man  was  killed  not  far  from  the  spot  wliere  thelamented 
Mr.  Payne  was  shot,  and  later,  on  the  14tli  of  June,  five  men 
were  killed  while  at  work  in  a  corn-field  on  Spafford's  Creek,  a 
branch  of  the  Pecatonica. 

All  this  time  Black  Hawk  himself  had  not  struck  a  hostile 
blow  since  the  battle  at  Sycamore  Creek,  bnt  b}'^  means  of  his 
fleet-footed  messengers,  as  well  as  his  Pottawatomie  and  Winne- 
bago spies,  he  was  well  aware  of  the  preparations  which  were 
being  made  to  act  against  him. 

The  lead  interests  of  Galena  had  drawn  around  the  place  a 
thriving  settlement  of  Americans  to  work  the  mines  which  had 
for  a  century  before  been  worked  by  the  French  or  Indians,  some- 
times by  the  enforced  labor  of  negro  slaves. 

In  1827,  the  county  of  Jo  Daviess  had  been  organized,  includ- 
ing within  its  area  several  of  the  present  adjacent  counties,  at 
that  time  a  trackless  wild,  except  for  a  few  miles  around  the  vi- 
cinity of  Galena.  A  devious  path,  almost  concealed  with  prairie 
grass,  led  from  this  place  to  Vandalia,  the  State  capital,  from 
whence  the  mail  was  carried  once  a  fortnight,  and  another  to 
Dixon.  The  remoteness  of  this  settlement  from  the  populous 
portion  of  Illinois,  made  it  a  shining  mark  for  Black  Hawk,  and 
here  he  determined  to  strike  his  first  blow  before  the  new  recruits 
came  into  the  field.  With  this  intent,  he  sent  a  small  band  of 
his  marauding  scouts  thither,  to  make  observations  and  steal 
horses.  On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  June,  they  succeeded  in  ac- 
complishing this  design  by  entering  the  stables  attached  to  Apple 
River  Fort,  and  taking  away  the  horses  without  detection.  This 
was  a  small  stockade  on  the  east  bank  of  Apple  river,  12  miles 
from  Galena,  situated  on  Sec.  24,  in  Elizabeth  township.  The 
next  morning,  by  chance,  Capt.  T.  W.  Stephenson  arrived  from 
Galena  with  a  small  command  of  12  men,  and  determined  to  pur- 
sue the  pilferers.  The  party  was  well  mounted,  and  loUowiP'^ 
their  track  without  difficulty  over  the  grass-clad  plains,  overtook 
them  near  Wad^ain's  Grove,  in  the  present  county  of  Stephenson, 
named  in  honor  of  the  leader  of  this  expedition.  The  Indians 
took  to  the  grove,  and  secreting  themselves,  waited  the  approach 
of  their  pursuers,  like  so  many  tigers  crouching  for  their  prey, 
and  Stephenson's  men,  with  more  courage  than  ])rudence,  dis- 
mounted, left  their  horses  in  charge  of  ten  of  their  number  and 
followed  them  with  the  intention  of  driviu";  them  out  of  their 
covert  and  recovering  the  horses.  Three  ot  Stephenson's  men 
were  killed  in  the  desperate  bush-tight,  and  himself  and  several 
others  wounded,  wlien  they  retreated,  and  the  victorious  Indians 
bore   away  their  booty  unharmed.*     The  dead  were  left  on  the 

•  lohiiston's  Hist,  of  Stephenson  <  ounty. 


Attack  on  Apple  River  Fort.  395- 

ground,  but  the  next  day  the  part^'  returned  and  buried  them. 

Encouraged  by  tliis  success,  Black  Hawk  selected  150  of  his 
choicest  braves  and  marched  against  the  lort  from  wliich  the 
horses  had  been  taken.  It  was  a  small  stockade  of  logs  driven 
into  the  ground,  having  a  tower  at  each  corner  fof  sharp-shooters, 
and  garrisoned  with  25  men  under  command  of  Captain  Stone. 
Clustered  around  it  was  a  village  of  miners,  who,  in  the  event 
of  an  Indian  attack  relied  on  it  as  a  place  of  refuge.  As 
Black  Hawk's  band  neared  the  place,  so  stealthy  was  his  move- 
ments that  they  managed  to  conceal  themselves  in  a  thicket  only 
half  a  mile  distant  witliout  being  discovered.  From  this  ambush,. 
he  intended  to  dash  upon  the  place  just  after  twilight,  before  the 
gates  of  the  fort  were  closed  for  the  night,  and  had  it  not  beeui 
for  the  indiscretion  of  one  of  his  own  men,  the  village  and  fort 
both  would  probably  have  been  taken  and  all  the  inhabitants 
butchered,  according  to  the  merciless  custom  of  Indian  warfare. 
On  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  six  brave  scouts  liad  volunteer- 
ed to  take  a  message  from  Galena  to  Dixon."  Arriving 
at  Apple  Kiver  Fort,  they  stopped  to  take  dinner,  from  whence 
they  were  to  take  their  dangerous  course  over  the  prairies.  A 
few  minutes'  travel  after  they  left  the  fort  brought  them  within 
range  of  one  of  the  concealed  Indians,  who  tired  on  them,  wou.;d- 
ing  Walshe.  His  companions  kept  the  Indians  at  a  distance  by 
pointing  their  guns  at  the  foremost  ones  till  the  wounded  man- 
was  rescued,  and  all  had  made  a  glorious  retreat  to  Apple  Iliver 
Fort.f  Thus  balked  in  lis  plan  of  secrecy.  Black  Hawk  imme- 
diately dashed  upon  tho  town.  The  villagers  rushed  into  the- 
fort,  leaving  their  houses  at  the  mercy  of  the  foe.  The  womeu' 
went  to  melting  lead  and  moulding  bullets,  and  the  mea 
And  boys  seized  each  a  musket  to  defend  the  fort.  Tlie  assault 
was  kept  up  ten  hours  or  more.  In  vain  the  Indians  fired  a  tem- 
pest of  bullets  against  the  palisades,  aiming  at  tlie  loop-holes,  and 
.with  ferocious  yells  threatened  to  assault  the  place  by  scaling  its 
walls.  A  number  of  them  had  fallen  before  the  steady  aim  of 
the  defenders,  and  the  besiegers  at  last  retreated,  after  a  wanton 
destruction  of  everything  of  value  in  tlie  village.  Only  on©  man 
was  killed  in  the  fort. 

While  Black  Hawk's  band  were  wasting  their  fury  against  the 
fort,  Dixon,  one  of  the  intrepid  scouts  who  had  been  fired  upon 
as  he,  with  his  companions,  had  started  for  Dixon,  was  on  his  way 
to  Galena  to  give  the  alarm  and  obtain  assistance.;^    Col.  Strode, 

*Fred   Dixon.  Wm.  Kilpatrick, Walshe, Wiickelrode  and  two 

olhcrs. 

tKoss'  History  of  Ogle  Co. 

\  Fred.  Dixon  had  been  a  dintinguished  Indian  fighter  in  Missouri.    He  waa 
not  the  proprietor  of  Dixon's  Ferry. 


^Pil        ,  Battle  of  Kellogg' s  Grove. 

who  held  command  of  the  place,  promptly  responded  to  the  call 
"by  sending  a  detachment  with  all  liaste,  but  thej  did  not  arrive 
till  Black  Hawk  liad  retreated.  Martial  law  was  now  declared  in 
Oalena,  as  a  measure  of  defense  against  Black  Hawk's  scouts. 

The  late  daring  act,  though  unsuccessful,  had  sufficiently  dem- 
onstrated the  courage  of  the  Indians,  and  their  numerous  war 
parties  infesting  the  lonesome  paths  of  the  prairies  gave  alarming 
■evidence  that  their  numbers  had  been  augmented  largely  from 
tribes  who  were  friendly  as  nations,  but  whose  renegade  element 
"were  in  the  ranks  of  Black  Hawk. 

Gen.  Brady,  to  whom  the  command  of  the  new  recruits  had 
been  given,  being  now  taken  violently  sick,  Gen.  Atkinson  was 
appointed  to  take  liis  place.  While  these  were  on  their  way  to 
Dixon,  Major  Dement  was  ordered  to  advance  to  Galena  with 
:a  spy  battalion  numbering  one  hundred  and  fifty  men.  Ar- 
riving within  thirty-five  miles  of  his  destination  at  Kel- 
logg's  Grove,  while  reposing  at  the  log-cabin  of  Mr.  Kellogg,  for 
wliom  the  grove  was  named,  on  the  25th  of  June,  he  was  ap- 
prised of  the  presence  of  large  bodies  of  Indians.  Three  or  four 
days  before,  Black  Hawk  had  been  repulsed  from  Apple  River 
Fort — less  than  a  day's  march  from  this  place — and  it  was  hut  a 
reasonable  supposition  that  his  band  were  ambushed  near-by — 
perhaps  within  hearing  of  his  noisy  soldiers  in  the  merriment  of 
•camp-life.  Orders  wero  given  to  saddle  the  horses,  while  he,  at 
the  head  of  twenty  men,  led  a  reconnoitering  party.  It  was  none 
too  soon,  for  within  three  hundred  yards  of  his  camp  seven  In- 
•dians  were  discovered,  crawling  on  the  ground,  silent  as  Victor 
Hugo's  thugs.  His  undisciplined  men  immediately  gave  chase, 
while  he  vainly  endeavored  to  call  them  back  for  fear  of  an  am- 
buscade. When  the  pursuit  had  continued  about  a  mile,  a  large 
ibody  of  Indians,  reported  at  three  hundred,  but  probably  con- 
sisting only  of  the  attackers  of  Apple  River  Fort,  sprang  from 
■their  hiding-places  like  so  many  goblins.  Ferocious  yells  broke 
the  silence  of  the  morning,  tilling  the  solitudes  around  them  with 
vengeful  warnini;s.  Dement  retreated  inside  the  log  buildings 
■composing  Mr.  Kellogg's  pioneer  ])lantation,  sending  back  occa- 
sional shots  on  the  way.  Ilere  he  held  his  foes  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage to  them;  but  unwilling  \o  give  up  the  prize,  they  wasted 
considerable  jiowder  and  lead  against  the  inflexible  walls  of  his 
retreat  till  several  of  their  own  number  fell  before  the  steady  aim 
of  the  besieged.* 

•Among  the  Indians  shot  was  a  daring  young  chief  who  ventured  very  near 
to  secure  a  good  aim  at  the  loop-hole.  Rev.  Zadock  (Jiisey  was  the  one  who 
brought  bim  down  ;  the  same  who  afterwards  became  Lieut.-Governor  of  the 
ir8tat«.  On  tlie  person  of  the  chief  was  found  a  lock  of  hair  which  was  after- 
wards identified  as  the  same  cut  from  the  head  of  Rachel  Hall,  who  was  carried 
into  captivity  from  the  Indian  Creek  massacre. — Matson's  Shnubena,  p.  277. 


-  Battle  of  Pecatonica.  39T 

The  In(]iaiis  witlidrew  after  an  hour's  ineffectual  attempt  to 
dislod^je  Dement.  Five  whites  were  killed  and  a  lararer  number 
wounded,  which  was  the  result  of  the  ambuscade  which  the  un- 
disciplined soldiers  had  fallen  into,  from  which  perilous  position 
their  retreat  into  the  log-cabins  saved  them  from  a  total  defeat 
with  j^reat  slaujjhter. 

Before  tl:e  battle,  an  express  had  been  sent  to  Gen.  Posey  for 
assistance,  and  two  hours  after  the  retreat  of  the  Indians  he  ar- 
rived with  his  whole  force.  The  next  dnv  he  made  a  reconnois- 
sance  to  the  north,  in  search  of  the  retn-ating  Indians,  l)ut  not 
finding  them,  he  took  up  his  quarters  at  Ft.  Hamilton,  on  the 
Pecatonica  river. 

The  news  of  the  battle  soon  reache  1  Dixon,  where  Ge-i.  At- 
kinson, supjwsing  that  Black  Hawk  might  attempt  a  retreat 
across  the  Mississippi,  sent  Gen.  Alexander  to  sconr  its  bank* 
below  Galena,  and  intercept  him;  but  pending  this  fruitless 
search,  Black  Hawk  was  retreating,  unpursued,  to  his  camp  at  the 
head  of  Rock  river,  where  his  warriors,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  were  now  whetting  their  revenge  under  the  accumuhited 
griefs  of  exile,  hunger  and  war. 

A  few  davs  before  Dement's  battle  Colonel  Dodo;e,  who  com- 
manded  the  Wisconsin  volunteers,  went  to  Fort  Hamilton,  which 
was  the  nearest  fort  to  the  spot  where  the  five  men  had  Iteen 
killed  in  a  corn-field,  as  told  in  a  preceding  page.  From  this 
place,  at  the  head  of  21  daring  Wisconsin  volunteers,  he  sallied 
forth  in  quest  of  the  hostile  Sacs  who  had  committed  the  out- 
rage. He  overtook  them  on  the  oast  foi-k  of  the  Pecatonica^ 
lodged  in  a  grove.  The  attack  was  immediately  made,  and  re- 
sulted in  killing  the  entire  band  of  Indians,  17  in  number.  Col- 
onel Dodge's  loss  was  three  killed.  This  little  skirmish  tested 
not  only  the  courage,  but  the  muscle,  of  the  dashing  volunteers^ 
for  the  conflict  was  mostly  hand-to-hand  fighting.* 

After  Dements  fight,  General  Atkinson,  learning  by  Wapan- 
eie,  a  friendly  Pottawatomie,  that  Black  Hawk  had  returned  to 
his  camp,  he  made  preparation  to  follow  him.  Colonel  Fiy  was 
ordered  to  march  in  advance,  for  tlie  especial  purpose  of  meeting 
and  welcoming  a  company  of  friendly  Pottawatomies,  recruited 
at  Chicago,  and  led  by  Billy  Caldwell  and  Shaubenaand  Geo.  £. 
Walker,  while  he  and  General  Henry,  with  their  respective  brig- 
ades, followed,  taking  their  course  up  the  east  side  of  Hock  river, 
with  the  intention  ot  attacking  Black  Hawk  in  his  camp.  At  the 
Bame  time  General  Alexander  was  ordered  to  advance  up  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  a  few  miles  west  of  its  bank,  while  Colonel 
Dodgo  and  General  Posey  were  to  march  from  the  waters  of  the. 

—  .—  -■■■  —  ,■■. ■»,■... I ■    ■  .1  II  W^— — ■■■    I         I        II  !■  - I— IIM « 

'Smith's  Doc.  Hist.  Wis.,  Vol.  I,  p.  275. 


r>9S  Batth  of  Wisconsin  Heights. 

Pecatonica,  striking  Snorar  creek,  which  flows  sontliwardlj 
through  Green  coimty,  Wis.,  thence  to  the  most  soutlierii  of  the 
Four  Lakes.  While  this  sweeping  invasion  was  making  its  way- 
northwardly,  Black  Hawk  was  fleeing  before  it  as  fast  as  his 
scanty  means  of  transportation  won'd  allow,  but  ere  he  was  al)le 
to  cross  the  Wisconsin  river  he  wu..  vertaken  by  General  Hen- 
ry's division,  who  gave  him  battle  on  its  southern  bank,  at  a  place 
called  Wisconsin  Heitihts,  about  flftv  miles  below  Ft.  Winnebajjo, 
which  resulted  in  a  loss  of  50  to  him  while  in  his  retreat  across  the 
river.     General  Henry's  loss  was  1  killed  and  8  wounded. 

White  Crow  -a  friendly  Winnebago  chief,  was  in  General 
Henry's  ranks  during  the  battle,  but  unfortunately  for  Black 
Hawk,  the  Crow  lett  the  camp  <»f  the  volunteers  and  started  for 
Fort  Winnei)ago  as  soon  as  darkness  had  ])ut  an  end  to  the 
fight,  for  during  the  night  General  Henry's  sentinels  heard  Indian 
voices  calling  to  them,  but  no  one  could  inter])rGt  their  words, 
and  no  notice  was  taken  of  them.  These  were  ofl'ers  to  surrender* 
and  had  the  White  Crow  been  present  to  interpret  them  the  aw- 
ful fate  that  followed  to  Black  Hawk's  band  might  have  been 
averted. 

During  the  night  Black  Hawk  succeeded  in  getting  his  wretched 
fugitives  across  the  Wisconsin  whence  they  fled  towards  thn 
Mississipj)i,  indulging  in  the  desjiairing  hope  that  they  could 
reach  its  banks  and  find  an  asylum  in  the  mysterious  wilds  be- 
yond, should  they  be  able  to  cross  before  their  pursuers  overtook 
them.  General  Atkinson,  who  was  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  Sacs, 
soon  arrived  at  Helena,  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  where  the  Wis- 
consin volunteers,  under  Colonel  Dodge,  effected  a  junction  with 
him.  Crossing  ovei-  to  the  Xorth  side,  they  soon  struck  the  trail 
of  Black  Hawk.  It  was  during  the  last  days  of  Juh%  and  the 
heat  of  midsummer  soon  decomposed  the  bodies  of  the  dying 
fugitives,  and  the  stench  left  in  their  wake  was  sometimes  almost 
insupportable.  Some  of  these  dead  were  those  who  liad  been 
wounded  in  the  late  battle,  and  othei-s  were  women  or  children 
who  had  surrendered  at  last  to  starvation  and  exhaustion. 

On  the  2nd  of  August,  the  advance,  under  Colonels  Dooge  and 
Zachary  Taylor,  overt(»ok  and  attacked  them,  the  main  army, 
under  General  Atkinson  meantime  pressing  on,  supposing  that 
the  main  body  of  the  Sacs  was  in  front  of  them. 

In  this  conviction  they  were  outwitted  by  the  wily  Black  Hawk, 
wiio,  intending  to  escape  with  his  main  body  wliile  amusing  his 
pursuers  with  a  feint,  had  sent  them  to  the  hanks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe.  General  Henry,  who  was  in 
the  rear,  learned  this  through  Major  Ewing,  and  dashing  at  them 


•Smith's  Wis.  Vol.  1,  P.  280. 


'  Battle  of  Bad  Axe.  399 

with  his  whole  force,  the  battle  of  r>iid  Axe  was  fou>;ht,  rjoiieral 
Atkinson  reachirii;  the  scene  oniv  in  time  to  see  the  iri-onnd  cov^- 
''.-red  with  slain  Indians,  and  the  flyinii^  remnant  vainly  trying  to 
cross  the  river  by  swimm^n^•.  The  loss  of  the  volunteers  was  17 
killed,  and  more  v/ounded.* 

Immediately  after  Henry's  battle  at  Wisconsin  Heights,  he  had 
•dispatched  a  messenger  to  Prairie  du  Chien  to  give  the  news. 
He  arrived  there  on  the  23d  of  Jnl^  and  Colonel  Looniis,  who 
then  held  command  of  Ft.  Crawford,  mspatched  the  steamer  enter- 
prise up  the  Mississippi  to  intercept  Black  Hawk,  should  he 
attem])t  to  crt)?s.  Arri\ing  at  the  month  of  Black  river,  they 
found  40  AVinnebagoes  with  28  canoes.  They  were  friendly  In- 
dians, but  doubtless  under  a  compassionate  sympathy  for  their 
unhuj)]!}'  kindred  in  their  desperate  extremity,  had  assembled 
there  to  assist  them  across  the  river.  Under  this  impression  they 
were  seized  and  sent  to  Fort  Crawford,  The  Enterprise  was  now 
abandoned  because  she  was  a  slow  boat,  and  the  Steamer  War- 
rior, armed  with  a  six-pounder  was  sent  up  the  river  in  her  stead. 
There  are  two  islands  on  the  Mis?.issippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bad 
Axe,  and  on  one  of  these  the  most  of  the  defeated  Sacs  with  their 
women  had  found  a  breathing  phice  after  the  battle.  Many  of 
them  swam  thither  for  they  had  but  one  canoe,  which  was  used 
t<«  transport  the  leeble  squaws  and  children.  To  this  isolated 
retreat,  Colonel  Taylor  at  the  head  of  150  regulars  followed  them, 
and  charged  upon  the  pent  up  fugitives,  while  Captain  Throck- 
Triorton  opened  fire  on  them  from  the  Warrior.  They  made  a  des- 
})crate  defense,  but  all  fell  except  one  who  escaped  by  swim- 
ming.f 

Among  those  who  had  not  taken  refuge  on  the  island,  was 
Black  Hawk  himself  and  less  than  a  hundred  of  his  band.  Black 
Hawk  fled  to  Prairie  LaCross,  a  Winnebago  village,  where  he  sur- 
rendered himself  to  Cha-e-tar,  and  One  Eyed  Decorra.  Under 
their  custody  the  conquered  chief  with  the  prophet  were  taken  to 
Prairie  du  Chien,  and  delivered  to  Genial  Street  the  agent  of  the 
Winnebagoes  at  that  place  on  the  27th  of  August.;}: 

*There  seems  to  have  been  no  small  amount  of  ri  valship.  from  the  first,  among 
the  various  divisions  of  the  volunteers,  an  to  which  should  have  the  first  chance 
at  the  Sacs.  It  was  by  disobedience  to  tlie  orders  of  the  commandinjr  General 
(Atkinson),  that  General  Henry  had  by  a  hasty  march  overtaken  and  fou<,'ht 
Black  Hawk  on  the  Heiirhts  of  the  Wisconsin,  for  which  offense  General  Atkin- 
son had  placed  him  in  the  rear  in  the  continued  pursuit,  but  Black  Hawk's  suc- 
cessful feint  at  Bad  Axe  had  by  chance  again  given  General  Henry  the  first 
chance  at  his  desperate  and  starving  warriors. 

See  SraJth's  Wis.,  Vol.  I,  p.  41.5.    RoynoMs'  My  Own  Times,  p.  415. 

tCaptain  Estes.  Account.  Sec  IJoc.  Hist.  Wis.  Vol.  Ill,  P,  230, 

JOn  delivering  the  captives  One  Eye  said:  We  have  done  as  you  told  us. 
"We  alwaye  do  as  you  tell  us,  because  we  know  it  is  for  our  good.     *    *    Wc 


400  Last  Fatal  Retreat. 

Of  the  miserable  reninant,  about  50  were  tnlcen  prisoners,  and  it 
is  probable  that  a  few  fled  to  tbc  Wiiinebai^oos  and  found  a  shelter, 
but  it  is  known  that  s^onie  succeeded  in  cror-sini;  tlie  AIis.sis.sippi,. 
even  in  the  face  of  their  numerous  enemies;.  1  bey  bad  no  sooner 
landed  on  this  sava<re  shore  than  the  Sioux,  their  ancient  enemies,, 
fell  upon  the  iinhapjn'  outcasts,  and  sent  them  across  another 
river  to  the  Ilappij  Iluntliuj  Grounds'^  Tiie  thorny  path  they 
had  traveled  since  they  had  returned  to  Illinois  was  now  ended. 
If  this  world's  griefs  can  ofi'set  transgressions,  the  balance  could 
not  be  greatly  against  them  to  be  entered  to  account  on  the  other 
side. 

Let  us  now  return  to  General  Scott,  whom  we  left  at  Fort 
Dearborn.  Ko  news  was  obtainable  from  the  seat  of  the  war,, 
and  before  he  would  take  any  offensive  steps,  it  was  necessary  to 
communicate  with  General  Atkinson.  From  the  alarming  news 
that  had  thus  far  reached  C^hicago  it  was  then  su])posed  that  Black 
Hawk's  war  parties  were  way-laying  every  pulh  through  tlie  prai- 
ries that  intervened  between  Fox  river  and  the  Galena  settlements^ 
but  yet  in  the  face  of  these  fancied  dangers,  an  intrepid  frontierer 
was  found  who  volunteered  to  carry  a  iiiessage  from  General 
Scott  to  the  camp  of  General  Atkinson,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
on  Rock  River.  Tliis  was  John  K.  Clark  (who  it  may  not  be 
forgotten,  was  the  son  of  Margaret  the  captive).  He  started  on. 
the  mission  with  two  daring  half  breeds,  stealthily  makinir  their 
way  over  treeless  plains,  and  creeping  through  silent  groves  to 
Rock  River,  thence  following  up  the  trail  of  his  army  reached  his 
camp  and  delivered  the  message.  All  haste  was  now  made  to 
return  to  Chicago,  wdiich  they  safely  effected  after  a  week's  absence 
from  the  place  and  delivered  General  Atkinson's  reply  to  General . 
Scott.  The  two  inconsiderate  half  breeds  tarnished  their  laurels 
thus  gained  by  a  carousal  in  a  villainous  whisky  den,  which  then 
stood  about  where  the  well  known  house  of  Fuller  &  Fuller  is  now 

want  you  to  keep  them  safe.  If  they  are  to  be  hurt,  we  do  not  want  to  see  it. 
Wait  until  we  are  gone  Viefore  you  do  it. 

Black  Hawk  spoke  as  follows:  *  *  My  wnrriors  fell  around  me;  it  beprann 
to  look  dismal.  I  saw  my  evil  day  at  hand.  The  sun  rose  clear  on  U3  that 
morning,  and  at  night  it  sank  in  a  dark  cloud,  and  looked  like  a  ball  of  fire. 
This  was  the  last  sun  that  shone  on  Black  Hawk.  He  is  now  a  prisoner  to  the 
white  man,  but  he  can  stand  the  torture.  He  is  not  afraid  of  death.  He  is  no 
coward.  Black  H.awk  is  an  Indian.  He  has  done  nothincr  an  Indian  need  be 
ashamed  of.  He  has  I'ought  the  battles  of  his  country  against  the  white  men 
who  came  year  after  year  to  cheat  them,  and  take  away  their  lands.  *  *  * 
Black  Hawk  is  satisfied.  He  will  go  to  the  world  of  spirits  contented.  His 
father  will  meet  and  reward  him.  The  white  men  do  not  scalp  the  head,  but 
they  do  worse;  they  poison  the  heart.  *  *  •  Farewell  to  my  nation  I  Fare- 
well to  Black  Hawk. 

*Doc.  Hist.  Wia.  Vol.  Ill,  P.  284. 


General  Scotfs  Advance.  4f)l 

located.  TTere  they  spent  the  uiglit  in  (liKsip:itio)i,  and  tlie  next 
mornin<;  Benjauiiu  llall  (my  intbiinant),  f?aw  them  come  from 
the  phice,  lay  down  on  the  ground,  and  die  witli  Cholera  at  fif- 
teen minutes'  notice. 

About  the  20th  of  July,  General  Scott  now  resolved  to  go  to  the 
Dosplains  river  and  encamp,  thinking  the  change  might  bo  bene- 
ficial to  the  health  of  his  men.  He  arrived  there  about  the  20th 
with  his  whole  command  and  encamped  at  the  present  site  of 
Riverside.  Ilis  baggage  train  consisted  of  about  fifty  wagons 
which,  with  the  horses  to  draw  thtiin,  had  been  })nrchased  at  Milan, 
Ohio,  and  sent. by  teamsters  to  Fort  Dearborn,  where  they  jo-riv- 
ed  a  few  days  after  the  general  had  come  to  tlie  place. 

Robert  X.  Murray,  whose  father  had  recently  settled  'z-  Naper- 
ville  (as  already  stated),  was  a  lad  of  seventeen  years,  and  en- 
listed in  the  service  of  General  h'cott  !is  teamster,  to  drive  one 
of  the  teams  across  the  country.  General  Scott,  with  12  men 
and  two  baggat^e-wagons,  had  star  fid  in  advance,  leavin<;  Colo 
nel  Cwmmings  in  command  of  the  main  body,  which  was  to  fol- 
low as  soon  as  the  health  of  the  soldiers  would  permit.  In  toi; 
days  the  train  started,  carrying  in  the  wagons  the  few  sick  sol- 
diers who  had  not  vet  sufficiently  recovered  from  cholem  attacks 
to  stand  the  fatigue  of  nuirching.  Their  route  lay  through  Gil- 
bert's Grove,  on  the  DuPage,  across  the  Fox  river  three  miles 
below  Elgin;  thence  through  the  Pigeon  woods  to  the  present 
site  of  Ijclvedere;  thence  to  an  old  Indian  village  at  the  present 
site  of  Beloit.  Here  the  train  rested  a  week,  during  which  time 
a  messenger  came  to  the  cotnmanding  officer,  ii. forming  him  of 
the  battle  of  Bad  Axe,  with  orders  to  proceed  to  Rock  Island. 

In  obedience  to  these  instructions,  the  train  again  started  over 
the  prairies  in  a  more  southerly  direction,  passing  the  present 
site  of  Rockford,  which  Avas  then  a  wild  of  great  beauty,  where 
they  encamped  for  the  night.  Young  Mtirray  had  by  this  time 
attracted  the  eye  of  Colonel  Cummii.gs  who  promoted  him  to 
the  position  of  driving  his  own  carriage,  and  gave  the  charge  of 
the  team  from  which  he  had  been  taken,  to  his  first  driver.  Here 
he  soon  became  initiated  into  the  ways  of  some  "  great  men,"  by 
being  offered  his  choice  of  brandy  or  wine  as  often  as  the  Colo- 
nel became  thirsty,  which  was  five  or  six  times  a  day.  Young 
Mtirray,  to  his  surprise,  declined  the  brandy,  but  retained  the 
good  opinion  of  his  master,  nevertheless.  A  few  days'  travel 
down  R(jck  river  now  brouglit  them  to  their  destination.  The 
troops  were  left  at  Fort  Armstrong,  and  the  teams  sent  back  to 
Chicago,  where  they  were  sold.* 

*While  the  writer  is  making  up  this  chapter,  Mr.  Murray  is  on  the  bench 
holding  his  court  but  few  rods  distant  in  the  village  of  Wheaton. 


4()3  Death  of  Black  Hawk. 

On  tlie  9th  of  September  the  Indian  prisoners  were  sent  to 
Jefter.son  ]iarracks,  just  below  St.  Louis,  from  which  place  Black 
Hawk,  with  tlie  Prophet,  was  sent  to  Washington,  arriving  there 
the  following  April,  1833.  On  the  'iOth  they  were  sent  to  Fort- 
ress Monroe,  where  they  remained  till  the  4t]i  of  June,  when 
they  were  ordered  to  be  sent  back  to  their  own  country. 

On  the  way  Black  Hawk  was  received  with  ovations  in  all  the 
large  cities  through  which  he  passed.  Even  ladies  of  high  rank 
flattered  him  witli  smiles  and  compliments,  to  whom  he,  not 
wishing  t<»  be  outrivaled  in  politeness  (in  his  way),  responded: 
Pietty  squaw!  Pretty  squaw! 

On  returning  to  his  country,  he  was  restored  to  his  tribe  as  a 
chief,  subordinate  to  Keokuk.  He  spent  his  last  days  in  quiet- 
ness, dying  on  the  3d  of  October,  1838,  at  his  home  on  the  Des 
Moines  river,  in  Iowa.  He  was  buried  in  a  sitting  posture,  after 
the  Indian  custom,  near  the  present  village  of  lowaville  in  Wa- 
pello county,  and  a  mound  six  feet  higii  raised  over  the  remains 
of  the  ill-starred  chieftain,  who  must  ever  stand  recorded  as  The 
last  native  defender  of  the  soil  of  the  Northwsst.* 

*Our  Mr.  Lincoln,  wV.om  Chirago  delights  to  claim,  at  least  as  one  of  her  trans- 
cient  citizens,  served  in  the  Hlack  Hawk  War  six  weeks,  but  humorously  says 
that  he  fou{?ht  nothing  but  mosquitoes.  Out  of  this  experience  o:rew  an  inciilent 
which  is  told  by  Hon.  Isciac,  N.  Arnold,  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  Chicago 
Historical  Society,  as  follows : 

"  When  Major  Anderson  visited  Washington  after  his  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter,  he  called  at  the  White  House  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  President. 
After  the  Chief  Magistrate  had  expressed  his  thanks  to  Anderson  for  his  conduct 
in  South  Carolina,  I  ir.  Lincoia  said:  '  Major,  Do  you  remember  of  ever  meeting 
me  before?'  'No,  replied  Anderson;  '1  have  no  recollection  of  ever  having 
bad  that  pleasure.'  'My  memory  is  better  than  yours',  said  Mr.  Lincoln. 
*  You  mustered  me  into  the  United  States  service  as  a  high  private  of  the  Illinois 
volunteers  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  in  the  Black  Hawk  War." 


(311  AFTER  XXIV. 

•Chicago  as  Seen  5//  Philo  Carpenter  in  1832 — Eli  B.  Wil 
Hams'  Report  of  Chicago  in  \^?>^ — Cook  County  Organized 
—  l^he  Town  of  Chicago  Organized  tinder  a  Board  <*/  trus- 
tees— The  Moutk  of  the  River  Opened — The  First  Public 
Loan — Indian  Treaty  of  1830 — Ditto  o/"1833  at  Chicago — 
Graphic  Description  of  Chicago  and  the  Treaty  hy  an  En- 
glish Traveler — The  Indian  Titles  Extinguished — The  In 
dians  Removed, 

The  <?re;it  ]ilateau  of  northern  Illinois  was  now  vacant.  Its 
nn measured  plaiiis  over  wliieli  the  summer  winds  waved  the  tall 
prairie  <^raves  into  changing  hues  of  green,  before  the  occasional 
traveler  who  crossed  thein,  laid  out  temptingly  before  the  em- 
igrant. The  Indian  was  gone.  They  had  left  nothing  but  the 
graves  of  tiieir  fathers.  They  had  not  even  marred  tiie  beauty  of 
the  groves  which  stood  upon  the  rolling  heath  like  islands  of  the 
ocean,  in  majestic  solitude.  The  wolves  and  a  few  deer  were  their 
only  tenants,  except  the  birds.  The  conquest  of  the  Korthwest 
was  now  comj)leted.  The  spasmodic  throe  of  lingering  native 
power  that  had  been  quickened  into  a  fleeting  activity  by  the 
courage  of  Black  Hawk,  had  vanished.  Many  of  the  men  who 
witnessed  all  this  are  still  living  and  jostling  their  way  along  the 
stage  of  life  in  its  accumulating  activity,  that  the  march  of  pro- 
gress lias  stimulated  to  high-water  mark  amongst  us.  But  a  few 
jears  more  will  see  the  last  one  of  them  gathered  into  the  fold 
among  their  fathers,  and  tlien  our  age  will  descend  into  history 
as  an  epoch  of  progress  unparalleled  in  its  records. 

There  are  now  (1880),  two  men  living  in  Chicago  who  were 
residents  of  the  place  before  the  Black  Hawk  "War,  and  liavt 
been  representatives  of  its  vital  interests,  and  witnessed  itt 
growth  from  a  lea  of  sand-ridge,  marsh  aiui  forest,  to  a  city  of  over 
half  a  million ; — have  seen  it  in  its  gradations  from  an  obscure  mil- 
itary post  on  the  extreme  v(!rge  of  Western  settlements,  to  the 
iiommercial  center  of  the  great  Northwest.*   ^)ne  of  these,  Gurdor? 

*  Besides  these  two  is  anotlicr.  Mr.  F.  1).  Park,  who  anived  at  (Jliitatfo  xVufruHt 
2()th,  J8;U,  and  i8  still  a  resident  of  tlie  city,  an  esteemed  titi/uii,  wbo  lias  U'jver 
>tuttinuiuglud  in  public  atfaii'ti  to  make  hini.solf  widely  known. 


404  Novel  Mode  of  Traveling. 

S.  Hubbard,  has  ab-eadj  been  memorized  in  preceding  chapters, 
as  his  active  life  has  interwoven  its  records  into  Chicago  liistory. 
The  other  is  Philo  Cai-jienter,  who  is  associated  with  later  records 
of  Chicago. 

He  came  to  the  place  in  1832,  starting  from  Troy,  N.  Y.,  ia 
May.  He  took  the  Erie  Canal  to  Butialo,  and  from  thence  took 
passage  on  the  steamer  Enterprise  (Capt.  Walker,  ]\Iaster),  to 
Detroit.  Four  and  a  half  days  was  then  the  usual  time  for  this 
passage.  Detroit  was  the  Western  limit  of  established  lines  of 
Western  transportation,  but  a  mail  coach  consisting  of  a  Penn- 
sylvania covered  wagon  with  a  concave  body,  was  drawn  by  two 
horses  slowly  through  the  wilderness  road  to  Niles  once  a  week, 
from  whence  the  mail  was  carried  to  Chicago  on  horseback,  a 
half-breed  generalh'  performing  the  service.  From  Detroit  to- 
Niles,  Mr.  Carpenter  with  another  gentleman  named  G.  W. 
Snow,  came  in  the  mail  coach.  Xiles  was  an  old  settled  Freiich 
trading  post,  and  at  this  time  enjoyed  a  fair  trade,  prin(.'ii)ally  witl*. 
Indians.  Supplies  were  transported  to  the  place  from  Detroit 
by  way  of  the  lake  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  which  latter  spot 
had  been  an  important  point  ever  since  La  Salle  had  built  a 
fort  herein  1680.  From  here  freight  Avas  transported  to  Niles 
by  means  of  flat  boats,  propelled  by  shoulder  poles,  as  our  worthy 
Mr.  Lincoln  used  to  move  his  lumber  rafts  through  sluggish  wa- 
ters when  a  boatman. 

Mr.  Carpenter  with  Mr.  Snow  took  passage  from  Niles  to  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  on  one  of  these  boats,  expecting 
to  complete  the  last  part  of  their  journey  on  board  a  sloop  which 
made  occasional  trips  from  this  place  to  Chicago;  but  in  this  they 
were  disappointed.  The  last  trip  made  by  this  craft  to  Chicago 
was  just  after  General  Scott's  arrival  at  the  place,  and  so  great 
was  the  terror  caused  by  the  oontiigion  that  he  brought,  that  no 
inducement  could  influence  the  master  of  the  sloop  to  return.  In 
this  emergency  two  Indians  came  to  Mr.  Car])enter,  and  by  means 
of  signs  oflered  to  convey  him  and  his  companian  to  their  destina- 
tion in  a  small  boat  along  the  shore  around  the  head  of  the  lake. 
Five  dollars  was  the  fare,  half  down  and  the  balance  at  the  end  of 
the  journey.  The  terms  being  accepted,  the  Indians  took  to  the 
woods,  and  soon  returned  with  several  long  sti"i|)8  of  elm  bark. 
These  were  quickly  tied  together  till  a  long  tow  line  was  impro- 
vised and  attached  to  the  rude  boat,  which  was  the  excavated 
trunk  of  a  tree.  One  Indian  seized  the  line  and  started  off"  on  a 
trot,  tugging  the  clumsy  craft  along  the  shore,  while  the  other 
steered.  By  taking  turns  a  speed  of  live  miles  an  hour  was  at- 
tained. When  the  fir  c  night  overtook  them,  as  chanco  would 
have  it,  a  schooner  lay  stranded  on  the  beach,  and  its  captain  in- 
vited the  travelers  to  accept  Lis  hospitalities.     A  supper  of  veui- 


Chicago  in  1833.  405 

*ion,  a  good  bertli  and  breakfast  followed.  In  the  morning  tho 
Indians  took  tlieir  places,  one  at  the  helm  and  the  other  at  the 
tow  line;  the  travelers  seated  themselves  in  the  hoat;  a  few  extra 
retrains  of  the  swarthy  toiler  raised  the  speed  and  rapidly  he  tug- 
i;ed  along  the  sandy  shore — the  exponents  of  a  civilization  destined 
to  exterminate  his  own  race.  The  next  night  found  them 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet.  Here  John  Mann  ke])t  a  tavern, 
and  also  a  ferry,  but  he  with  his  family  had  fled  to  Chicago,  lest 
some  Indian  on  the  war-path  should  attack  them  to  subserve  the 
interests  of  Black  Hawk.  Mr.  Carpenter  and  his  companion 
entered  his  forsaken  house  and  spent  the  night,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing resuming  their  journey  iu  the  usual  way.  soon  cjime  to  the 
place  where  tlie  Douglas  Monument  now  stands.  Here  a  settler 
lived  named  Joel  Ellis,  well  knoun  to  some  of  the  old  settlers 
iiow  living.  One  of  the  Indians  was  now  attacked  with  colic, 
perhaps  caused  by  the  "fear  of  the  cholera,  and  both  refused  to  pro- 
ceed farther,  but  Mr.  Ellis  yoked  his  oxen  to  a  lumber  wagon,  the 
travelers  seated  themselves  in  it.  and  after  an  hour's  toiling  over 
the  sand  ridges,  the  American  Hag  waving  over  the  block  Jiouse 
at  Fort  Dearborn  met  their  view. 

The  streets  of  the  embryo  town  had  been  staked  out  but  no 
grading  had  been  done,  not  even  a  dirt  road  thrown  up.  A 
•wagon  track  took  a  circuitous  way  from  one  liouse  to  another,  ac- 
<',(»mraodating  itself  to  the  oozy  sloughs  which  sea^ied  the  land- 
scape. The  places  connected  l>y  this  track  were  first  the  fort 
"with  its  adjuncts,  occupying  the  grounds  south  of  the  present 
iiufeh  street  bridge,  from  which  the  path  took  a  western  direction 
to  Russell  Heacoek's  lug  building,  which  stood  on  the  bank  of 
the  river  at  the  junction  of  a'  deep  run.  the  mouth  of  which  wa.s 
where  State  street  now  comes  to  the  river.  A  foot-log  across  it 
gave  Mr.  Heacock  a  nearer  way  to  the  post  office,  which  was  then 
at  the  Fork*  (Wolfs  Point),  but  the  main  road  curved  around  the 
head  of  this  run,  or  rather  to  a  place  above  its  abrupt  bank  where 
it  coidd  be  crossed.  The  road  next  threaded  its  way  to  a  log 
building  about  at  the  jiresent  corner  of  Clark  and  water  streets, 
where  Geo.  W.  Hole  and  Ol'ver  Nowbe.rry  ke])t  a  commi.-5sion 
house.  The  next  building  on  the  road  in  its  western  course  was 
a  new  frame,  the  first  ot  its  kind  ever  erected  in  (^hicago;  it 
was  located  near  the  present  corner  of  La  Salle  and  Water  streets, 
built  by  P.  F.  W.  Peck,  and  occupie<l  by  him  as  a  dry  goods 
-fitore.  It  stood  till  the  great  fire  of  1871,  contrasting  strangely  and 
inc(»ngr>iously  with  its  adjacent  companions.  The  next  l)uilding 
•<m  the  primitive  high-,vay  was  the  post-office,  at  wliich  was  also  a 

'.      •  Mr.  Hoivcoc'k  Ciimi'  to  Chicufro  in  IH27.     He  wiu  the  fii-st  lawyer  who  settled 
jitthe  ploije.— W.  11.  IIuklbut. 


406  Topography  of  Chicago, 

general  store  kept  by  John  S.  C.  Hogan.  It  stood  wliere  Water 
street  irow  meets  Lake  street  diagonally,  just  east  of  the  bridge. 
Immediately  south  of  this  on  Market  street,  stood  a  log  tavern  kept 
by  Mark  Beanbien.  This  was  sometimes  called  the  Sauganash, 
but  it  was  not  the  famo»s  Hotel  known  by  that  name  subsequent- 
ly erected  about  at  the  present  corner  of  Franklin  and  Lake 
Streets.  Besides  these  buildings,  was  the  residence  of  John  Bap- 
tise Beaubien,  south  of  the  fort  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  })ast  its 
turn  as  it  took  its  sandy  way  into  the  lake.  These  are  all  the  im- 
provements on  the  South  side,  as  reported  by  Mr.  Carpenter  on 
his  first  arrival  at  Chicago. 

Speaking  of  the  area  occupied  by  the  sand-bar  and  river  itself,, 
east  of  the  elevated  bank  on  whicli  the  fort  stood,  lie  says  it  v/a^^ 
ever  changing  in  form,  and  such  portions  of  it  as  one  day  ap- 
peared above  water  were  liable  to  be  submerged  tiie  next  day. 
N^or  was  the  mouth  of  the  river  any  more  permanent  in  its  loca- 
tion, for  there  was  no  spot  from  ^orth  to  South  in  this  low  heath 
of  moving  sands  that  had  not  at  certain  times  been  its  channel, 
in  obedience  to  the  whimsical  action  of  the  winds  and  waves.. 
At  its  immediate  mouth  the  river  was  not  more  than  twelve  inche* 
deep  during  ordinary  summer  seasons,  while  a  few  feet  above,  it 
deepened  to  fifteen  feet  or  more,  but  the  treshets  of  Spring,  or  an 
excessive  rain  at  any  time  might  produce  a  current  in  the  river 
sufiicient  to  clear  away  the  sand  at  its  numth  to  a  depth  as  low  as 
the  botton  of  the  river  above.  This  depth  could  only  be  main- 
tained as  long  as  the  swollen  waters  were  able  to  resist  the  coun- 
ter action  of  the  waves,  which  would  quickly  choke  the  mouth 
of  the  river  again  when  its  active  current  subsided. 

Geology  has  revealed  the  history  of  many  of  the  physical 
changes  which  are  apparent  on  the  face  of  nature  in  its  present 
adaptation  to  our  wants,  and  of  these  changes  observation,  even 
unaided  by  science,  shows  how  the  recent  finishing  up  of  great 
geological  changes  has  been  completed.  That  lake  Michigan  has 
been  receding  for  several  centuries  does  not  adn»it  of  a  doubt 
when  one  carefully  notes  the  topography  of  its  south-western 
water-shed.  The  rapids  of  the  Illinois  river  at  Marsailles  once 
bore  the  same  relation  to  the  great  lakes  on  the  west  that  Niag- 
ara Falls  now  bears  on  the  east.  The  evidence  of  this  is  fount! 
in  tiie  valley  which  once  constituted  the  gently  ^loJ)ing  banks 
of  a  western  outlet  of  the  lakes.  This  must  have  been  when  tint 
face  of  tiie  lake  was  thirty  or  more  feet  higher  than  its  present 
level.  At  that  time  the  Desplaines  river  must  liave  em])tie<I 
into  the  lake,  and  as  the  latter  receded,  its  waval  action,  by  ob- 
structing its  mouth,  as  it  subse(|uently  <lid  themoutii  of  the  Chi- 
cago river,  turned  it  into  the  Illinois  Valley.  Kven  as  late  as 
1849,  daring  a  great  flood,  the  swollen  waters  of , the  Desplaine* 


Ch^mgo  in  1833.    .  40T 

found  their  old  channel  to  the  lake  through  the  Cliicago  river, 
carrying  shipping  and  bridges  along  in  its  irresistible  career. 
How  much  more  Jake  Michigan  may  recede  depends  on  the  friable 
nature  of  the  rock  at  Niagara  Falls  and  the  bed  of  the  Detroit 
river,  which  as  yet  seems  to  be  inflexible  enough  to  give  many 
centuries  lease  of  the  present  height  of  the  lake  before  it  can  re- 
cede sufficiently  to  leave  Chicago  as  an  inland  city.  Till  then 
she  may  drink  of  the  brimming  cup  which  the  economy  of  na- 
ture has  brought  to  her  lips,  aiid  if,  by  the  wisdom  and  justice 
of  our  country's  laws,  our  government  stands  and  continues  to 
dispense  an  even  measure  of  justice  to  all  its  subjects  till  the  ev- 
olntions  of  nature  shall  have  changed  the  location  of  our  large 
cities,  we  shall  present  a  spectacle  never  before  recorded  in  the 
world's  history. 

The  solution  of  this  probleui  belongs  to  the  future.  It  will 
not  follow^  the  mandates  of  our  dogmas  or  the  whims  of  specula- 
tion, but  a  thousand  years  hence  the  merits  of  Oriental,  (irocian 
and  Christiaft  civilization  will  be  compared  with  each  other  by 
Transcendental  Philosophy,  which  is  always  parsimonious  in  its 
praise  and  lavish  in  its  censure;  meantime  we  shall  wag  along, 
each  one  doing  all  he  can  to  contribute  his  mite  to  make  up  the 
sum  total  of  the  gi'andeur  of  his  own  age  as  far  as  the  promotion 
of  his  own  interest  can  do  it;  ami  the  verdict  of  time  will  be 

f)ronounced  in  favor  of  that  civilization  whose  policy  the  most 
ar^-ely  turns  private  enterprise  into,  and  secures  private  inter 
ests  in,  channels  not  antagonistic  to,  but  in  harmony  with  the 
public  good.  Let  us  convince  our  ]K)sterity  that  Chi'ir.tian  civi- 
lization can  win  in  this  sublime  rivalry.  Let  us  return  to  Chi- 
cago, which  we  left  where  Mr.  Carpenter  found  it. 

Mr.  Eli.  B.  Williams  may  be  reijarded  as  next  in  chronologi- 
cal order  of  the  living  witnesses  of  early  Chicago.  He  is  a  native 
of  Connecticut,  and  with  his  wife  arrived  at  Chicago,  April  14th, 
1833.  From  Detroit  they  came  in  their  own  private  carriage 
across  the  country  through  Ypsilanti  and  Niles,  coming  to  the 
shore  of  the  lake  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Eiella,  who  with  his 
family  were  spoken  of  in  the  previous  chaj^tcr.  From  this  place 
they  followed  the  immediate  shore  of  the  lake  to  Chicago,  ferry- 
ing over  the  Calumet  at  Mr.  Man's  ferry,  arriving  at  the  ])lace 
the  next  day  in  the  afternoon.  Leaving  the  Fort  at  their  right 
they  bent  their  course  across  the  open  prairie  towards  the  fork  of 
the  rivnr.  Here  they  foutul  a  log  tavern  kept  by  j^fark  iJeaubien. 
Several  Indians  were  lounging  around  the  door,  in  the  libtless 
manner  peculiar  to  their  race,  which  was  not  calculated  to  assure 
a  lady  from  ('onnecticnt  with  confidence,  ami  ]SIr.  Williams,  at 
the  suggestion  of  his  wife,  dr<»ve  across  the  river  on  afloatinglog 
bridge,  to  a  tavern  kept  by  Charles  H.  Taylor.     Here  they  stopped 


408  Chicago  Incorporated. 

several  days  to  take  observations,  after  which  Mr.  Williams  de- 
cided to  settle  here,  under  an  impression  that  a  late  appropriation 
which  Congress  liad  made  to  improve  the  river  and  harbor,  to- 
gether with  the  canal  when  liiushed,  would  insure  a  respectable 
sized  town,  where  the  religious  and  educational  institutions  of  his 
native  State  might  be  re-produced. 

The  entire  white  population  of  Chicago  did  not  then  exceed 
200  persons,  but  there  was  a  much  larger  Indian  population, 
which,  though  transient,  served  to  swell  the  volume  of  trade,  and 
Mr.  "Williams  concluded  to  open  a  store  at  once.  His  place  of 
business  was  on  South  Water  street,  east  of  Geo.  W.  Doles. 
This  he  built,  making  the  frame  from  green  timber,  cut  from  the 
forests  on  the  ISTorth  Side,  hewn  to  a  snap-line*  with  a  broad-axe 
in  the  old-fashioned  way.  The  weather  boarding  came  from  St. 
Joseph,  which  then  furnished  Chicago  her  lumber  as  much  as  it 
does  now  her  peaches.  The  flooring  came  from  a  saw  mill  which 
had  just  been  built  by  the  enterprising  Mr.  Naper,  at  Naper- 
ville,  who  must  be  recorded  as  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  lumb-.r 
trade  to  Chicago. 

In  1831,  the  county  of  Cook  had  been  organized,  incbiding 
within  its  area  the  present  counties  of  Dupage,  Lake,  McIIenry, 
Will  and  Iroquois,  receiving  its  name  from  Daniel  P.  Cook,  a 
nieml«!r  of  Congress  from  Southern  Illinois.  Samuel  Miller, 
Gholson  Kercheval  and  James  Walker,  were  sworn  into  office  as 
County  Commissioners,  March  8th  1831,  by  John  S.  C.  Hogan, 
justice.  Wra.  See  was  clerk,  and  .Vrchibald  Clybourn  Treasurer, 
Jedediah  Wooley  was  county  Sucveyor.  Three  election  districts 
were  organized,  one  at  Chicago,  one  on  th^  Dupage  River,  and 
one  on  Hickory  Creek.f 

It  was  not  until  two  years  later  that  the  town  of  Chicago  took 
any  action  towards  organizing,  when  under  general  Statute  law, 
they  held  an  election  for  this  purpose,  August  10th,  1833,  and  in- 
corporated the  embryo  town.  Only  twenty  eight  votes  were  cast, 
which  was  but  a  feeble  constituency  with  wliicL.  to  start  a  metrop- 
olis. P.  J.  V.  Owen,  Geo.  W.  I'iole,  Mederd  Eeaubien,  John 
Miller  and  E.  S.  Kiinberly,  were  elected  as  trustees.  A  log  jail 
was  built  on  the  public  square  where  the  court  house  has  since 
been  erected.     An  estray  pen  was  also  built  at  an  expense  of 

$12.00. 

— 1 — — ~ .^ 

•This  was  a  straight  scribe  mark  made  along  the  entire  length  of  a  log  by 
means  of  stri'tchin^  a  chalked  string  from  end  to  end  on  it,  making  it  ftist  at 
each  extremity.  Ihe  string  was  then  raised  up  perpendicularly  from  the  middle 
and  being  let  down  with  a  snap,  left  a  chalk  mark  on  the  log  as  a  guide  by 
which  to  hew  it  square.  This  was  the  process  in  the  early  day  of  making  square 
timber  for  frames,  instnad  of  sawing  them  as  done  at  the  present  day. 

tl'his  was  the  Southern  Precinct,  Hickory  Creek  being  a.  branch  pf  the  De»» 
plaiiies  in  what  is  now  Will  County. 


First  Public  Loan.  409 

The  next  year  Mr.  Williams  was  elected  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil Board  of  Trustees.  Entering  upon  the  responsibility  of  his 
office  he  found  many  difficulties  in  his  path.  There  were  various 
public  improvements  necessary  to  be  made  to  keep  pace  with  the 
proiri-ess  of  such  public  works  as  had  been  projected  at  ajovern- 
ment  expense,  such  as  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal  and  build- 
ing the  north  pier,  and  oj^ening  a  straight  channel  for  the  mouth 
of  the  river  through  the  sand  bar  around  which  it  had  formerly 
formed  a  circuitous  delta.* 

Clark  street  was  then  the  principal  highway  from  north  to 
south.  During  excessive  rains  it  was  impassable  in  its  low 
places,  and  it  was  the  first  pressing  want  of  tlie  town  to  make  a 
ditch  on  each  side  of  it.  The  treasury  was  empty,  and  a  loan  to 
accomplish  this  end  was  necessary.  By  dint  of  much  importuni- 
ty, Mr.  Williams  succeeded  in  negotiating  one  for  $00.00  with 
Messrs.  Strahan  &  Scott,  by  becoming  personally  responsible  for 
its  payment.  The  amount  was  faithfully  applied  to  the4).urpose 
for  which  it  was  intended,  and  thus  the  public  credit  and  im- 
provement of  Chicago  began,  which  have  since  been  witnessed 
up  to  this  date  (1880)  by  him  who  inugurated  them.  Both  Mr. 
Williams  and  his  wife  are  in  their  full  mental  vigor,  though  ad- 
vanced in  years. 

Besides  the  honorable  record  of  Mr.  Williams  in  Chicago,  an 
increased  interest  gathers  around  his  recollections,  from  the  fol- 
lowing incident:  At  Toland,  Connecticut,  in  his  father's  house, 

*  From  Mr.  Ezekiel  Morrison,  who  came  to  Chicago  80on  afUr  the  arrival  of 
Mr.  Williams,  in  IHIiJ,  the  following  has  been  learned  relative  to  the  opening^ 
of  the  riiouth  of  the  river  directly  to  the  lake.  Jn  18;{3  work  w^as  commenced  at 
cuttinfr  through  the  sand-bar  to  straighten  the  Chicago  River.  It  was  done  un- 
der the  direction  ot  Major  Handy,  who  had  charge  of  the  government  work. 
Cribs  were  made  filled  with  stone  and  sunk  across  the  main  channel  of  the  river 
to  turn  its  course  across  the  sand-bar  directly  into  the  lake,  as  it  now  runs. 
The  next  year,  iis  good  fortune  would  have  it,  the  Desplaines  overflowed  the 
country  intervening  and  caused  an  unusual  flow  of  water  through  the  Chicago 
River.  Only  a  slight  opening  was  made  in  the  sand-bar,  and  the  accunuilated 
waters  did  tlie  rest.  A  steamboat  came  through  the  opening  thus  nuule  the 
Banie  Spring  (18lU).  The  north  pier  was  then  commenced  to  secure  the  ad- 
vantage thus  gained.  Four  hundred  feet  was  made  tlie  first  year,  and  its 
progress  continued  from  year  to  year  to  its  present- dimensions.  Immediately 
after  tiie  channel  was  pierced  through,  the  wind  commenced  drifting  sand  from 
the  north  bank  into  the  river,  and  cribs  had  to  be  set  into  the  bank  to  prevent 
til  filling  up  of  the  channel.  The  action  of  the  waves  was  also  a  constant 
source  of  annoyance,  and  threatened  to  destroy  the  utility  of  th '  work  already 
done,  till  tlie  north  pier  was  extended  a  suHicient  distance  into  the  lake  to  reach 
water  so  dm-p  that  the  sand  could  not  be  moved  around  it  by  surface  agitation. 
To  extend  this  pier  sufliciently  to  atcomplish  tliis,  has  beim,  and  is  still,  a  work 
perhaps  not  completed,  i>ut  destined  yet  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Public  Workp.  Meantime  the  waval  actiim  is  constantly  makitisr  ac- 
cretions north  of  the  pitr.  It  has  already  made  a  belt  of  land  half  a  mile  into 
the  lake  and  the  process  is  still  going  ou. 


410  The  First  Steam,  Engine. 

John  Buel  Fitch  planned  and  built  the  first  steam  engine  ever 
made.  He,  with  his  assistants,  worked  secretly  in  the  basement 
of  the  house,  and  continued  their  labors  till  the  engine  was  in 
practical  working  order;  the  first  of  its  kind  which  was  destined 
to  revolutionize  the  ti-ansporting  as  well  as  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  the  world,  and  control  the  destinies  of  nations. 
While  at  work  on  it,  says  Mr.  Williams,  the  screeching  of  files, 
the  clink  of  liaminers,  and  hissing  of  steam,  which  was  heard 
outside,  excited  the  credulity  and  snperi^tition  of  the  age,  till 
witchcraft  was  suspected,  and  the  whole  neighborhood  were  beset 
with  fear  from  what  was  going  on  in  the  mysterious  basement. 

John  Fitch  lived  and  died  in  penuiy  and  want,  l)ut  tiirough 
his  invention  the  railroad  and  manufacturing  millionaires  of 
Europe  and  America  grew  into  powei',  and  the  present  magni- 
tude of  Chicago  is  already  traceable  to  the  success  of  that  experi- 
ment that  from  the  basement  of  the  elder  Mr.  Williams'  house 
crowned  the  twilight  of  the  eighteenth  century  with  everlasting 
fame. 

In  the  year  1832  the  Pottawattomies  of  Indiana  a)id  Micliigan, 
on  the  20th  of  October,  at  Camp  Tippecanoe,  in  Indiana,  con- 
eluded  a  treaty  with  the  United  States,  b}^  tlie  terms  of  which  the 
country  intervening  between  their  cession  of  181(5,  along  the  line 
of  the  proposed  canal  and  the  Indiana  line,  was  sold  to  the  United 
States  in  the  following  terms:  After  making  many  reservations 
to  private  Indians  for  servicer  rendered  the  State,  the  United 
States  agreed  to  pay  to  the  Pottawattomies  an  annuity  of  $15,000 
for  twenty  years,  besides  an  annuity  of  $000  to  Billy  Caldwell,. 
$200  to  Alexander  Robinso'n,  and  $200  to  Pierre  Le  Clerc,  during 
their  lives.  Further,  the  sum  of  ?28,71:6  was  to  be  paid  to  liciui- 
date  certain  private  claims  agaf.oi  the  Indians,  and  merchandise 
to  the  amount  of  $45,000  was  y.  ^e  delivered  to  them  on  signing 
the  treaty,  and  an  additional  amount  of  merchandise,  to  the  value 
of  $30,000,  was  to  be  delivered  to  them  at  Chicago  the  next  year 
(1833> 

On  the  27th  of  October,  the  same  year,  1S32,  and  at  the  same 
place  (Tippecanoe),  the  Pottawattomies  of  Indiana  sold  to  the 
United  States  all  the  remainder  of  the  lands  which  they  still  held 
as  a  tribe,  in  Michigan,  south  of  Grand  river,  in  Indiana,  and  iu 
Illinois. 

This  treaty  did  not  release  the  claim  of  the  Poltawjitoniies,. 
Chippewas  and  Ottaw.is,  of  Illinois,  to  such  lands  as  laid  north 
and  west  of  the  cession  of  1810,  along  the  track  of  the  ]>roposed 
canal,  aiid  it  will  thus  be  seen  that  almost  all  the  northern  por- 
tion of  Illinois  were  still  in  uiulisputed  Indian  ])ossession.  Ap- 
propriations to  build  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  had  already; 


Great  Indian  Treaty.  411 

been  made  by  tlie  State  of  Illinois,  to  whom  the  alternate  sec- 
tions of  public  lands  for  six  miles  on  each  side  of  the  canal  had 
been  donated  by  the  Government  for  this  purpose. 

Since  the  Black  Hawk  war,  which  had  brought  the  country 
within  the  knowledge  of  so  many  enterprising  young  men,  emi- 
gration was  coming  in  rapidly  and  occupying  the  lands,  although 
they  had  not  yet  been  surveyed,  but  these  moral  pre-emptors  did 
not  want  any  better  claim  for  an  ultimate  title  than  would  result 
from  actual  possession.  Speculators  were  also  coming  into  Chi- 
cago with  cash  to  make  investments,  and  it  was  all  important 
that  the  Indian  title  to  such  portions  of  northern  Illinois  as  the 
Sacs  and  Foxes  had  not  already  given  up,  should  be  speedily  ex- 
tinguished. To  this  end  the  Chippewas,  the  Ottawas  and  the 
Pottawattomies  of  Illinois,  were  summoned  to  a  great  council 
to  be  held  in  Chicago  in  Se])tember,  1833.  Great  pre})arations 
were  made  for  this  event.  Besides  the  interest  the  Indians  had 
in  it  directly  as  to  the  amounts  of  money  and  goods  coming  tO' 
them  on  parting  with  their  lands,  they  were  the  unwitting  in- 
struments by  which  several  hundred  white  claimants  brought 
charges  against  the  Government,  either  for  property  said  to  have 
been  destroyed  or  stolen  b}'  them,  or  for  services  done  the  State 
in  times  of  Indian  disturbances  as  measures  of  safety,  or  for  serv- 
ices in  times  of  peace  under  Government  contracts. 

At  this  time  Mr.  Charles  J.  Latrobe,  an  Englishman  of  great 
descriptive  talent,  happened  to  be  on  a  tour  to  Chicago  to  see  the- 
wonders  of  an  American  frontier,  and  make  notes  of  the  same  for 
publication  in  London.*  The  uaiveness  of  his  description  of 
Chicago,  and  the  transient  comers  to  the  place,  both  red  and  white^ 
to  attend  the  treaty,  are  too  fresh  to  be  lost,  and  portions  of  them 
are  here  re-produced  as  a  truer  picture  of  the  scene  than  could 
now  be  given:        .      •  • 

"We  fouu<l  the  village  or..our  arrival  crowded  to  excess,  and  we  procured  with, 
great  difficulty  a  small  apartment,  com'ortloss  and  noisy  from  its  close  prox- 
imity to  others,  but  quite  as  jjood  as  we  could  have  hoped  for. 

The  Pottawatomies  were  encamped  on  all  sides, — on  the  wide  level  prairie  be- 
yond the  scattered  village,  beneath  the  shelter  of  the  low  woods  which  che- 
quered them,  on  the  side  of  the  small  river,  or  to  the  leeward  of  the  sand  hills- 
near  the  beach  of  the  lake.  They  consisted  of  three  principal  tribes  with  cer- 
tain adjuncts  from  smaller  tribes.  Tiie  main  divisions  are,  the  Pottawatomies 
of  the  Prairie  and  those  of  the  Forest,  ami  these  are  subdivided  into  distinct  vil- 
lages under  their  several  chiefs. 

The  General  Government  of  the  United  States,  in  pursuance  of  the  scheme  of 
removing  the  whole  Indian  population  westward  of  the  Mississippi,  had  empow- 
ered certain  gentlemen  to  frame  a  Treaty  with  these  tribes,  to  settle  the  terms 
upon  which  the  cession  of  their  Reservations  in  these  St^itt\s  should  be  made 

A  preliminary  council  had  been  held  with  the  chiefs  somii  days  before  our  ar- 
rival.   The   principal  Commissioner  had  opened  it,  as  we  learnt,   by  stating*- 

*His  Book  entitled  "Rambler"  in  America,  was  published  in  London,  in  1835.. 
It  was  dedicated  to  Washington  Irving. 


412  •'     Contents  of  Chicago.  .    ^ 

iliat,  "as  their  Great  Father  in  Washington  had  heard  that  they  wished  to  sell 
their  land,  he  had  sent  Coinmis8ionei*s  to  treat  with  them. ' '  The  Indians  prompt- 
ly answered  by  their  organ,  "  that.their  Great  Father  in  Washington  must  have 
seen  a  bad  bird  which  had  told  him  a  Ho,  fcjr  that  far  iiom  wishing  to  sell  their 
land  they  wished  to  keep  it.'  The  Commissioner,  nothing  daunted,  replied: 
'  that  nevertheless,  as  they  had  come  together  tor  a  Council,  they  must  tako  the 
matter  into  consideration."  He  then  explained  to  them  p  ^niptly  the  wishes 
and  intentions  of  their  Great  Father,  and  asked  their  opinion  thereon.  Thus 
pressed,  they  looked  at  the  sky,  saw  a  fev,  wandering  clouds,  and  straightway 
.a<l,ioumed  sine  die,  as  the  weather  is  not  clear  enough  for  so  solemn  a  council. 
However,  as  the  Treaty  had  been  opened,  provision  was  supplied  to  them  by 
reguliir  rations;  and  the  same  night  they  had  had  great  rejoicings, — danced 
the  war- dance,  and  kept  the  eyes  and  eai-s  of  all  open  by  running  and  howling 
•alx)ut  the  village. 

.  Such  was  the  state  of  atfairs  on  our  arrival.  Companies  of  old  warriors  might 
'be  seen  sitting  smoking  under  every  bush;  arguing,  palavering,  or  "pow-wow- 
ing"  with  great  earnestness;  but  there  seemed  no  possibility  of  bringing  them 
to  another  Council  in  a  hurry. 

Meanwhile  the  village  and  its  occupants  presented  a  most  motley  scene. 
'  The  fort  contained  within  its  palisades  by  far  the  most  enlighted  residents,  in 
ihe  little  knot  of  officers  attached  to  the  slender  garrison.  The  quartere  here 
■consequently  were  too  confined  to  afford  i^lace  of  residence  for  the  Government 
■Commissioners,  for  whom  and  a  crowd  of  dependents,  a  temporary  set  of  plank 
huts  were  erected  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  To  the  latter  gentlemen  we, 
.as  the  onl>  idle  lookers  on,  were  indebted  for  much  friendly  attention ;  and  in  the 
frank  and  hospitable  treatment  we  received  from  the  inhabitants  of  Fort  Dear- 
<)om,  we  had  a  foretaste  of  that  which  we  subsequently  met  with  everywhere 
under  like  circumstances,  during  our  autumnal  wanderings  over  the  Frontier. 
The  officers  of  the  United  States  Army  have  perhaps  less  opportunities  of  be- 
•coming  refined  than  those  of  the  Navy.  They  are  often,  from  the  moment  of 
their  receiving  commissions,  after  the  termination  of  their  Cadetship  at  West 
Point,  and  at  an  age  when  good  society  is  of  the  utmost  consequence  to  the 
young  and  ardent,  exiled  for  long  ye<irs  to  the  posts  on  the  Northern  or  West- 
-ern  frontier,  far  removed  from  cultivated  female  society,  and  in  daily  contact 
with  the  refuse  of  the  human  race.  And  this  is  their  misfortune — not  their 
fault; — but  wherever  we  have  met  with  them,  and  been  thrown  as  strangers 
4ipon  their  ^ood  offices,  we  have  found  them  the  same  good  friends  and  good 
■company. 

But  I  was  going  to  give  you  an  inventory  of  the  contents  of  Chicago,  when 
the  recollection  of  the  warm-hearted  intercourse  we  had  enjoj'ed  with  many  fine 
fellows  whom  probably  we  shall  neither  see  nor  hear  of  again,  drew  me  aside. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  Officers  and  Commissioners,  may  be  noticed  certain  store- 
keepers and  niercliants  resident  here;  looking  either  to  the  influx  of  new  settlers 
establishing  themselves  in  the  neighborhood,  or  those  passing  yet  further  to  the 
westward,  for  custom  and  profit;  not  to  iorget  the  chance  of  extraordinary  oc- 
caisions  like  the  present.  .\dd  to  these  a  doctor  or  two,  two  or  three  lawyers, 
a  land-agent,  and  five  or  six  hotel-keepers.  Tiiese  may  be  considered  as  sta- 
tionary, and  proprietors  of  the  halt' a  hundred  clapboard  houses  around  you. 

Then  for  the  biids  of  passage,  exclusive  of  the  Pottawatomies,  tf  whom  more 
unon — and  emigrants  ami  land-speculators  as  numerous  as  the  sands.  You  will 
find  horse-'lealers.  atid  hor.-e-ste.ilers. — rogues  of  every  desc"  ption,  white,  black, 
brown  and  red— half-breeds,  quarter-breeds,  and  men  of  no  breed  at  all; — 
-dealers  in  pigs,  poultry,  and  potatoes; — men  pursuing  Indian  claims,  some  for 
tracts  of  laud,  others,  liki^  our  friend  Snipe,  (one  of  his  stage  coach  companions 
on  the  way)  for  pigs  which  the  wolves  had  eaten; — creditors  of  the  tribes,  or  of 
particuUu-  Indians,  who  know  that  they  have  no  chance  of  getting  their  money, 
if  they  do  not  get  it  from  the  Government  agents; — sharpers  of  every  degree; 
pedlars,  grog-sellers;  Indian  agents  and  Indian  traders  of  every  desiription,  ana 
Contractors  to  supply  the  Pottawatomies  with  food.    The  little  village  was  in  an 


Contents  of  (Jhmujo.  41S 

uproar  from  morning  to  ni^ht,  and  from  nipht  to  inorninj;;  for  during  theliours 
of  darkness,  when  llio  housed  portion  of  the  popnhition  of  Cliicafto  strovo  to  obtain 
repose  in  tlie  crowded  phmk  edifices  of  the  villai^e,  the  Indians  howled,  sanir. 
wept,  yelled,  and  whooped  in  their  various  encanipiuents. 

1  loved  to  stroll  out  towards  sun-set  across  the  river,  and  gaze  upon  t]<o  level 
horizon,  stretching  to  the  north-west  over  the  sulfate  of  the  prairie,  dotted  with 
innumerable  objects  far  and  near.  Not  far  from  tlie  river  lay  many  groups  of 
tents  constructed  of  coarse  canvas,  blar.kets.  and  mats,  and  surmounted  by 
po>s.  suppoi-ting  meat,  moccasins,  and  rags.  Their  vicinity  was  always  enliv- 
ened by  various  painted  Indian  figures,  dressed  in  the  most  gaudy  attire.  The 
interior  of  the  liovels  generally  displayed  a  (ontiued  area,  perhaps  covered  with 
a  few  half-rotten  mats  or  shavings,  upon  wiiich  uhmi,  women,  children,  and  bag- 
gage were  helped  pell-mell. 

Far  agd  wide  the  grassy  Prairie  teemed  with  figures;  warriors  mounted  or  ort 
foot,  squaws,  and  horses.  Here  a  race  between  three  or  four  Indian  ponies,  each 
carrying  a  double  rider,  whooping  and  yelling  like  fiends.  I'lieie  a  solirarv 
horsen"',n  with  a  long  spear,  turbaned  like  an  Arab,  scouring  along  at  full 
speed; — groups  o''  hobbled  horsi's:  Indian  dogs  and  children,  or  a  grave  con- 
clave of  gray  chiefs  seated  on  the  grass  in  consultation. 

it  was  amusing  to  wind  silently  from  group  to  grouji-  -here  noting  the  raised 
knife,  the  sudden  drunken  brawl,  quashed  by  the  good-natured  and  even  play- 
ful interference  of  the  neighbours,  there  a  party  breaking  up  their  encampment, 
and  falling  with  th(Mr  little  train  of  loaded  ponies,  and  wolfish  dogs,  into  tlu^ 
deep  black  narrow  trail  running  to  the  north.  You  peepinto  a  wiyvvaiu.  and 
see  a  domestic  feud;  the  chief  sitting  in  dogged  silence  on  the  mat,  while  the 
women,  of  which  there  were  commonly  two  or  three  in  every  dwelling,  and  who 
appeared  every  evening  oven  more  elevated  with  the  fumes  of  whiskey  than  the 
males,  read  him  a  lecture.  From  another  tent  a  constant  voicf  of  wrangling 
and  weeping  would  proceed,  when  suddenly  an  offended  fair  one  would  drvw 
the  mat  aside,  and  taking  a  youth  standing  without  Ijy  the  hand,  lead  him 
apart,  and  sitting  down  on  the  grass,  setup  tin'  mostindesiribabl(>  whine  as  she 
told  her  grief.  Then  forward  comes  an  Indian,  staggering  with  his  chum  from 
a  debauch;  he  is  met  by  hi.s  squaw,  with  her  child  dangling  in  a  fold  of  her 
blanket  behind,  and  the  sobbing  and  W(>eping  which  accompanies  her  whining 
appeal  to  him,  as  she  hangs  to  his  hand,  would  melt  your  heart,  if  you  did  not 
see  that  she  was  quite  as  tipsy  a-s  himself. 

Here  sitting  apart  and  solitary,  an  liidi.an  expends  the  e.'cnberanceof  his  intoxi- 
cated spirits  in  the  most  ludicrous  singing  and  gesticulation;  and  there  squat  a 
circle  of  nnrul.y  topers  indulging  themselves  in  the  most  un philosophic  and  ex- 
cessive peals  of  laughter. 

It  is  a  grievous  thing  that  Government  is  not  strong-handed  enough  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  shameful  and  scandalous  sale  of  whiskey  to  those  poor  miserable 
wretches.  But  here  lie  casks  of  it  for  sale  under  the  very  eye  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, met  together  for  purposes,  which  demand  that  sobriety  should  be  main- 
tained, w^re  it  only  that  no  one  should  be  able  to  lay  at  their  door  an  accusiitioa 
of  unfair  dealing,  and  of  having  taken  advantage  of  the  heliiless  Indian  in  a  bar- 
gain, whereby  the  people  of  the  United  States  were  to  be  so  greatly  the  gainers. 

And  such  was  the  state  of  things  day  by  day.  However  anxious  I  ami  others 
might  be  to  exculpate  the  United  States  Government  from  the  charge  of  cold 
and  selfish  policy  toward  the  remnant  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  from  that  of 
resorting  to  unworthy  and  <liabolicaI  means  in  attaining  possession  of  their 
lands, — as  long  as  it  can  be  said  with  truth,  that  di-unkenncss  was  not  guarded 
against,  and  that  the  means  were  furnished  at  the  very  time  of  the  Treaty,  and 
under  the  very  nose  of  the  Commissioners, — how  can  it  be  expectvd  but  a  stigma 
will  attend  every  transactien  of  this  kind.  Tlie  sin  may  lie  at  the  door  of  the 
individuals  more  immediately  in  contact  with  them;  but  for  the  character  of  the 
people  as  a  nation,  it  should  be  guarded  against,  beyond  a  possibility  of  trans- 
gression. Who  will  believe  that  any  act,  however  fonnally  executed  by  the 
chiefs,  is  valid,  as  long  as  it  ih  known  that  whiskey  was  one  of  the  parties  to  the 
IVeaty. 


414  Contents  of  Chi r ago. 

'  But  how  sped  the  Treaty?'  you  will  ask. 

Day  after  day  passed.  It  was  in  vain  tliat  the  signal-srun  from  tho  fort  prave 
notice  of  an  assemblage  of  chiefs  at  the  council  fire.  Reasons  were  always  found 
for  its  delay.  One  day  an  influential  chief  was  not  in  the  way;  another,  the  sky 
looked  cloudy,  and  the  Indian  never  pei-firms  an  important  business  except  tho 
sky  be  clear.  At  length,  on  the  '21st  of  September,  the  Pottawatomies  resolved 
to  meet  the  Commissioners.     We  were  politely  invited  to  be  present. 

The  council  fire  was  lighted  under  a  spacious  open  shed  on  the  greea  meadow, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  from  that  on  which  the  Fort  stood.  From  the 
difficulty  of  getting  all  to-gether,  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when  they  assem- 
bled. There  might  be  twenty  or  thirty  chiefs  present,  seated  at  the  lower  end 
of  the  enclosure,  while  the  Commissioners,  Interpreters,  &c.  were  at  the  upper. 
The  palaver  w.as  opened  by  the  principal  Commissioner.  He  requested  to  know 
why  he  and  his  colleagues  were  called  to  the  council?  An  old  warrior  arose, 
and  in  short  sentences,  generally  of  five  syllables,  dehvered  with  a  monotonous 
intonation,  and  rapid  utterance,  gave  answer.  His  gesticulation  was]appropriate 
but  rather  violent.  Rice,  the  hall-breed  Interpreter,  explained  the  signification 
from  time  to  time  to  the  audience;  and  it  was  seen  that  the  old  chief,  who  had 
got  his  lesson,  answered  one  question  by  proposing  another,  the  smn  and  sub- 
stance of  his  oration  being — "  that  the  assembled  chiefs  wished  to  know  what 
was  the  object  of  their  Great  Father  at  Washington  in  calling  his  Red  Children 
together  at  Chicago.' 

This  was  amusing  enough  after  the  full  explanation  given  a  week  before  at 
the  opening  session;  and  particularly  when  it  was  recollected  that  they  had 
feasted  sumptuously  during  the  interval  at  the  expense  of  their  Great  Father, 
was  not  making  very  encouraging  progress.  A  young  chief  rose  and. 'spoke  ve- 
hemently to  the  same  purpose.  Hereupon  the  Commissioner  made  them  ii  for- 
cible Jacksonian  discourse,  wherein  a  good  deal  which  was  akin  to  threal .,  wa-s 
mingled  with  exhortations  not  to  play  with  their  Great  Father,  bvit  to  ccv/  to  jmi 
early  determination,  whether  they  would  or  would  not  sell  and  exch!'-'.  ;r 

territory;  and  this  done,  the  council  was  dissolved.     Ont-'cv  i,wo  tipsv 
raised  an  occasional  disturbance,  else  matters  were  conducted  with  dae 

The  relative  positions  of  the  Commissioner  and  the  whites  befci-e  t^e  ( 
fire,  and  that  of  the  Red  Children  of  the  Forest  and  Prairie,  wero  to  n  f,  i. 
ly  impressive.    The  glorious  light  of  the  setting  sun  streaming  in  unde. 
low  roof  of  the  Council-H  /Use,  fell  full  on  the  contenances  of  the  former  a.". . 
faced  the  West — while  the  pale  light  of  the  East,   hardly  lighted  up  the  d  .\k 
and  painted  lineaments  of  the  poor  Indians,  whose  souls  evidently  clave  to  thoir 
birth-right  in  that  quartei".    Even  though  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  their  re 
moval,  mv  heart  bled  lor  them  in  their  desolation  and  decline.     Ignorant  and 
degraded  as  they  may  have  been  in  their  original  state,  their  degradation  is  now 
ten- fold,  after  years  of  intercourse  with  the  whites;  and  their  s^ji  edy  disappear- 
ahce  from  the  earth  appears  as  certain  as  though  it  were  already  sealed  and 
accomplished. 

Your  own  reflection  will  lead  you  to  form  the  conclusion,  and  it  will  be  a  just 
one, — that  even  if  he  had  the  will,  the  power  would  be  wanting,  for  the  Indian 
to  keep  his  territory;  and  that  the  business  of  arranging  the  terms  of  an  Indian 
Treaty,  whatever  it  might  have  been  two  hundred  years  ago,  while  the  Indian 
tribes  had  not.  as  now.  thrown  aside  the  rude  but  vigorous  intellectual  charac- 
ter which  distinguished  many  among  them,  now  lies  chiefly  between  the  various 
traders,  agents,  creditors,  and  half-breeds  of  the  tribes,  on  whom  custom  and 
necessity  have  made  the  degraded  chiefs  dependent,  and  the  Government 
Agents.  When  the  former  have  seen  matters  so  far  arranged  their  self-interest 
and  various  schemes  and  claims  are  likely  to  be  fulfilled  and  allowed  to  their 
hearts'  content, — the  silent  acquiescence  of  the  Indian  follows  of  CQurse;  and 
till  this  is  the  case,  the  Treaty  can  never  be  amicably  effected.  In  fine,  before 
we  quitted  Chicago  on  the  25th,  three  or  four  days  latter,  the  Treaty  with  the 
Pottawatomies  was  concluded, — the  Commissioners  putting  their  hands,  and 
ihe  assembled  chiefs  their  paws,  to  the  same. 

By  it,  an  apparently  advantageous  '  swop  '  was  made  for  both  parties." 


Terms  of  the  Treaty.  416 

By  the  terms  of  tliis  treaty  the  three  tribes  coiled  to  tlie 
United  States  the  entire  remainder  of  their  hands- in  Illinois  that 
had  not  already  been  sold.  The  ceded  tract  laid  between  the 
Rock  Kiver  and  Lake  Michii;an,  embracing  the  entire  lake  shore 
north  of  Chicaiifo,  and  all  the  lands  intervening  between  the  canal 
oession  of  181  (!  and  the  Sac  and  Fox  and  Winnebago  cessions 
between  the  Eock  and  Mississippi  rivers  of  1830  and  1832. 

The  consideration  for  the  relinquishment  of  this  land  was  first 
five  million  acres  granted  to  them,  sitnated  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Missouri  rivei- south  of  the  Buyer  river,  to  which  they  were  to 
be  transported  at  the  expense  of  the  government  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable, and  maintained  in  their  new  home  for  one  year.  One  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  was  to  be  |)aid  by  the  United  States  to  sat- 
isty  certain  claimants  for  reservations,  and  to  indeinnify  the 
Chippewas  for  certain  lands  in  Michigan,  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Menomonees,  to  which  they  laid  an  equal  claim. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  tliousand  dollars  to  satisfy  private  claims 
made  against  the  three  tribes:  an  annuity  of  fourteen  thousand 
dollars  per  year  for  twenty  years;  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars  to  be  applied  to  the  erection  of  mills,  farming  tools  and 
other  improvements  in  their  new  home.  Seventy  thousand  dol- 
lars to  support  the  means  of  education  among  tliem,  and  lastly, 
four  hundred  dollars  per  annum  was  to  be  added  to  the  annuity 
of  Billy  Caldwell,  three  hundred  to  that  of  Alexander  Robinson, 
and  two  hundred  each  to  the  annuity  of  Joseph  LaFromboise  and 
iShabonee. 

G.  B.  Porter,  Th.  J.  Y.  Owen,  and  William  Weatherford,  in 
behalf  of  the  United  States,  negotiated  this  treaty  with  the  Pot- 
tawattomas,  Chippewas,  and  Ottawas.  It  bears  date  of  Chicago, 
September  20,  1833.  It  was  the  last  great  Indian  council  at  this 
place,  around  which  the  red  men  had  lingered  in  great  numbers 
much  longer  after  being  settled  by  the  whites  than  around  other 
frontier  settlements. 

The  reason  of  this  was  obvious;  Chicago,  after  over  one  hundred 
years  of  transient  French  occu]>ation,  first  grew  into  importance 
as  an  English  settlement  through  Indian  trade.  Moreover, 
many  of  its  first  settlers  were  men  bred  on  the  frontiers  and  felt 
no  repugnance  towards  the  Indians,  but  on  the  contrary  not  a 
few  felt  a  friendship  for  them,  strengthened  by  yeai-s  of  compan- 
ionship in  the  fascinating  sports  of  border  life,  which  not  only 
level  social  distinctions,  but  accept  a  good  fellowship  through  a 
rough  exterior  intolerable  to  the  iminitiated  civilian.  Notwith- 
standing the  apparent  degradation  of  the  Indian,  even  after  be- 
ing brutalized  by  bad  whisky,  many  of  them  could  make  nice 
discriminations  in  issues  where  natural  rights  were  at  stake,  as 
our  government  agents  found  in  their  councils.     They  well  knew 


4:10  Itemo'oal  of  the  Indians. 

that  they  were  the  instruments  by  which  many  unjust  claini.> 
were  brought  against  the  government;  but  of  this  they  said 
nothing,  lest  their  o\vn  rights  might  be  compromised  by  such  an 
exposure. 

Tlie  amount  of  goods  dispensed  to  tliom  at  Chicago  to  fulfill 
treaty  stipulations  was  often  very  large,  and  in  order  to  distrib- 
ute them  equitably,  men  were  chosen  for  the  service  whose  ptr- 
sonal  acquaintance  with  the  Indians  would  enable  them  to  do  it 
in  the  most  satisfactory  manner.  On  thet^e  occasions  the  huge 
piles  of  goods,  consisting  largely  of  Indian  blankets,  wore  dis- 
pensed by  piece-meal  to  the  ditlereut  Indian  families  according 
to  their  necessities,  but  sometimes  a  discarded  Indian  lassie,, 
whose  place  had  been  substituted  by  a  white  wife,  came  in  for 
an  extra  share  of  finery  as  an  offset  to  lacerated  affections. 

Two  years  elapsed  after  the  Indians  had  sold  out  their  interest 
in  the  country  before  they  were  removed.  This  was  effected  by 
Colonel  J.  J).  F.  Itussell,  whose  widow  is  still  living  in  Chicago.. 
This  lady,  who  is  dt'sceuded  from  the  Peytous,  of  Virginia,  has 
in  her  possession  autograph  letters  of  Washington  and  other 
fathers  of  our  country,  besides  many  valuable  relics  of  early 
Chicago,  ami>ng  which  is  the  journal  kept  by  her  husband  du- 
ring his  public  service.  To  her  courtesy  the  writer  is  indebted 
for  much  valuable  information,  among  which  are  the  following 
items  from  Mr.  Russell's  journal: 

"  The  first  party  of  Indians  left  Chicago.  Sopt.  21, 1835.  with  the  Chiefs,  Rob- 
inson, Caldwell,  and  La  Framboii-o.  and  pioci'eded  to  their  place  of  rendezvous, 
on  the  Desplaines,  12  miles  from  Cliiea^o,  a  pia'^e  of  meetinsr  usual  on  such  oc- 
casions. 1  met  them  in  council  and  presented  to  them  the  oiijects  of  the  meet- 
ing and  the  views  of  the  government  relative  t^i  their  speedy  removal  to  their 
new  country.  They  wished  to  defm-  answering  what  I  had  said  to  them  for  two 
days,  to  which  I'  consented.  Sunday,  28tli.  Provided  teams  and  transporta- 
tion for  the  removal  of  the  Indians."  The  journal  next  proceeds  to  detail  the 
particulars  of  his  thankless  toil  in  satisfying  the  real  and  whimsical  neeessities 
of  his  captious  charge,  who  honored  him  with  the  appelation  of  Father,  and 
vexed  him  with  comj^laints  continually.  Th<'ir  first  stoppmg  place  was  Skunk 
River,  in  Iowa.  I'atoga.'ihah  started  with  his  band  to  winter  at  this  phice, 
which  was  the  first  party  to  start  independent  of  government  a-ssistance.  Rob- 
inson had  command  of  a  separate  party,  Caldwell  another,  W'alumsie  another, 
and  Holliday  another,  and  Robert  Kin/.ie  and  Mr.  Kerchival  assisted  Mr.  Rus- 
sell in  Buperintending  the  whole. 

Fort  Des  Moines,  on  the  Mississippi  river,  lay  on  their  route 
to  Fort  Leavenworth,  which  was  their  destination,  or.  the  Mis- 
souri river,  from  whence  they  were  to  draw  their  supplies,  as 
stipulated  by  the  government  at  the  treaty,  as  they  settled  them- 
.«elves  in  their  new  Jioine  adjacent.  The  wlioU;  tribe  were  not 
removed  to  their  new  home  till  the  next  year,  lS8t),  when  the 
last  remnant  of  them  took  their  leave  of  the  country  around  the 
head  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  they  had  occupied  for  twp  centu- 
ries, as  shown  in  foregoing  pages. 


Final  I>e.sthiat'on  of  the  Pottmiyitoinies.  417 

Two  years  after  their  settlement  near  Fort  Lejivcinvurtli,  owing^ 
to  feelings  of  hostility  which  the  frontier  settlers  felt  towards 
them,  they  were  reitioved  to  Council  Blulfs,  from  whence,  after 
remaining  a  few  j^ears,  they  were  removed  to  where  they  now 
live,  diminished  in  numbers  from  5,000,  at  the  time  they  were 
removed  from  Chicago,  to  less  than  half  that  numlier.'^ 

Mr.  Ilnssell's  success  in  removing  th«>m  was  the  result  of  his 
frontier  military  experiences  on  the  borders  of  Maine,  together 
with  his  habits  of  activity,  tempered  with  patience.  Iledeseives 
mention  among  the  early  settlers  of  Chicago,  because  his  name 
is  interwoven  with  its  history.  He  was  born  in  Boston  in,  ISOO, 
well  descended  fntm  Eevolntionary  stock,  his  father  being  a  pat- 
riot editor,  and  his  unclt!  (Major  Ben.  Russell),  v.as  stationed  at 
West  Point  at  the  time  of  xVrnold's  treason.  Mr.  Kusseirs  first 
arrival  at  Chicago  was  July  21st,  1832,  he  having  been  ordered 
to  join  General  Scott  here.  His  wWv.  did  not  come  to  the  place 
till  the  summer  of*  1835,  when,  in  com])any  of  (ieneral  (,^ass  and 
his  two  daujiiiters  she  arrived,  and  thev  were  iruests  at  the  Sa- 
gaunash.  They  were  fVom  this  time  permanent  residents  of  Chi- 
cago, well  known  by  all  tJie  early  suttlers.  Mr.  Ilusscirs  death 
took  place  Jan.  3d,  18t»l.     His  remains  rest  at  Rose  Hill. 


*The  report  from  the  office  of  Imliaii  iiffiiirs  in  Kaiisa-;,  Srpt  1st,  1^78,  says  : 
The  Poltawattomies  are  advaiicinjjr  in  t'diication,  morality,  cliristianity,  and  self- 
support.  A  majority  of  tlieiii  have  er.'eted  substantial  houses,  planted  fruit 
trees,  and  otlierwi.se  heautitied  tlu'ir  siiii\)niidiiii,'s.  The  average  attendance  at. 
a  school  which  the  jjovernnn'ut  provides  f<ir  th'in  is  29,  from  an  enrdlliiientof 
44.  The  school  bnildinors  are  wiMl  .supplied  wilii  faeultie.s  for  beardinrand  lodtf- 
ingthe  pupils,  and  also  for  teacliiny:  tln'  lemales  hoiiseiiold  duties.  Their  reser- 
vation coniaiiis  77,;>)7  acres  of  land  in  .Tacksou  county.  Their  wealth  in  indi- 
vidual property  amount.?  to  ?r241,6.')0.  On  their  farms  they  have  reapt  rs,  mow- 
ers, planters,  cultivators,  and  other  agricultural  machinery,  all  of  the  most 
modem  patterns. 


CHAPTEE  XXy. 

The  Beavliens — Pioneer  Hotel — Ingeniovs  Device  for  Lodg- 
ings— The  Pioneer  Newspaper — -Its  Suhscription.  List — 
Wolff's  Point — Its  Inhabitants — Alexander  Rolnnson — His 
Character — His  Wonderful  Age — Shahonee — His  Character 
— Chicago  in  1834 — Chicago  in  1885 — Turning  the  First 
Sod  for  the  Canal — Celehration  of  the  Event — Lts  Conse- 
quences— The  Last  liecords  of  Chicago  as  a  Town — List  oj 
Old  Settlers. 

Among  tlie  pioneers  of  Chicag-o  the  Beanbiens  deserve  a  place, 
for  without  them  a  chasm  would  be  left  unabridged  between  the 
old  Fi'ench  and  Indian  regime,  and  the  Anglo  American  of  to- 
day. 

In  the  year  1817,  Conant  &  Mack,  a  Detroit  Fur  Company, 

establi.shod  a  house  at  Lee's  Place  on  the  Chicago  river,  South 

Branch,  under  the  geiiei-al  superintendence  of  Mr.  John  Crafts,  as 

already  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  Mr.  John  Baptiste  Beuu- 

bien  was  in  his  service  as  local  agent,  which  was  the  means  of 

bringing   him  to  the  place  to  settle.     A    few    niontlis    later  the 

American  Fur  Comj^any  b'>nghtout  the  house  established  at  Lee's 

place  and  established  on"       Chicago,  at  the  same  time  imposing 

upon  ]\lr.  Crafts  the  entir-.  aiitiesof  the  Chicago  house,  which  of 

course  displaced  Mr.  Beaubien.*     He  still  remained  at  the  place, 

having  purchased  of  Mr.  Dean,  an  army  contractor,  the  house 

and  enclosure  containing  a  gaiden  and  field  adjacent  to  the  fort, 

known  as  the  Dean  house,  for  one  thousand  dollars. 

"  Colonel  Beanbifii  built  iiiiotlior  hoiiso  upon  this  place,  anfl  continued  the  oc- 
cupant of  it  till  1S:J0.  In  lH'2-'i  the  factory  houses  adjoining,  or  on  the  same 
pi'emises,  were  sold  by  order  of  the  Sccreiary  of  the  Treasury,  to  Wui.  Wiiiting, 
who  sold    tie  same  to  the  Ameriiiin  Fur  Company,  and  of  whom  Col.  Umiubien 

Surchasi'  'le  buildings  of  the  factory  for  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars.  Mr. 
ieaubic.  tiy  lln'se  purchases  became  tlu'  owner  and  occupant  of  all  the  prem- 
ises of  the  so  called  Heservation,  outside  of  the  fort,  and  claimant  to  the  lands 
not  covereil  by  the  buildiiijfs  of  the  yovi-rnmi'iit.  Upon  thest-  facts  Mr.  Ueaubien 
setu))  his  claim  lus  a  pre-emptioner  to  the  south  west  fractioiuil  quarter  of  sec- 
tion t  n.  township  thirty-nine  north,  ran^e  fouiieen  east,  as  beinjr  the  sole  oc- 
cupant and  in  actual  possession  on  the  !Hh  of  May,  IKiO,  the  date  of  the  pre- 
emption law.     He  therefore  applied  on  the  7th  of  May,  IX'-W,  to  the  land  ottice 

*Gurdon  S.  Hubbard. 


The  Bemilnens.  419 

at  Palestine,  for  a  pre-emption,  which  was  rejected  ;  thongrh  on  the  same  day 
a  pre-emption  was  f^rranted  to  Robert  A.  Kinzie,  for  the  north  fractional  quarter 
of  the  same  section,  which  was  the  part  occupied  by  the  Kinzie  family,  since  de- 
fined as  Kinzie's  addition  to  Chicago.  He  applied  again  in  18:34  to  the  land 
ofKce  at  Danville  for  a  pre-emption,  and  was  again  refused.  On  the  28th  of 
Hay,  1835,  Col.  Beaubien  applied  to  the  land  office  in  Chicago. — the  office  in  the 
meantime  having  been  established  here — and  having  proved  to  the  satisfaction 
•of  the  Register  and  Receiver  that  he  was  entitled  to  pre-emption,  he  entered  the 
game  and  received  his  certificate  therefor.  The  lands  h.ad  been  retained  and  his 
applications  resisted  on  the  gr  )und  of  the  tract  being  claimed  by  the  United 
States  for  military  purposes.  The  land  had  Ijeen  surveyed  by  government  in 
1821,  and  in  1824,  at  the  instance  of  the  Indian  Agent ;  the  Secretary  of  War 
requested  the  Commissioner  of  *lie  General  Land  Office  to  reserve  this  land  for 
the  accommodation  and  protection  of  the  property  of  the  Indian  Agency  ;  and 
the  Commissioner  did  inform  the  Secretary  that  he  had  reserved  it  from  sale  for 
military  purposes.  Beaubien  had  received  the  regi;5trar's  certificate — but  his 
title  to  the  propery  was  resisted,  and  the  case  traversed  the  courts  to  the  Su- 
preme Bench  of  the  United  States,  and  the  land  was  finally  held  by  the  United 
States,  and  was  surveyed  into  lots  and  sold  by  order  of  the  President,  in  1SH9. 
Mr.  Beaubien  was  allowed  as  a  special  favor,  some  of  the  lots  which  had  been 
covered  by  his  homestead,  which  has  proved  a  fortune  equal  to  the  original 
expectation  of  the  whole  tract  of  the  Reservation. 

Within  a  short  time  he  has  made  some  changes  in  his  estate  in  Chicago,  and 
has  removed  with  his  family  to  his  farm  on  the  Des  Piaines,  near  the  reservation 
of  .\lexan.ier  Robiiison.  the  late  chief  of  tlie  United  Tribes  of  the  Pottawato- 
mies,  Ottawas  and  Chippewas." — Zchiiin  Eastman's  Hisfori/ of  Chicof/o,  //iih- 
lislied  ill  the  Cliieai/o  Mn(/a:ine,  May,  1857. 

About  tliis  tiine  lie  married  a  half  breed,  nair-ed  Josette  La- 
Fr^nibnise,  who  had  been  in  the  employ  of  John  Kinzie  ])revi()ns 
to  the  massacre.  During  this  time  her  parents  lived  in  a  log 
house  at  the  head  of  the  south  branch  of  the  Chicago  river,  at 
which  place  she  took  refuge  after  the  massacre  and  remained  till 
her  marriage,  the  ceremony  being  ])ertbrmed  by  Father  liechere. 
Her  father,  J.  B.  LaFroniboise,  was  a  man 'of  education.  His  wife, 
an  Ottawa  girl,  the  mother  of  -losette.  soon  learntid  to  read  and 
write,  and  taught  an  Indian  school  at  Chicago.*  A  son  of  this 
imion,  Alexander  Beaubien,  is  now  a  resident  of  Chicago,  from 
whom  the  facts  have  l>een  learned.  Medard  B.  Beaxibien,  an 
older  son.  cast  his  lot  with  the  Indians  when  they  were  removed 
from  Chicago,  and  is  now  with  them  at  Silver  Lake,  Kansas. 
There  are  numerous  other  children  and  descendents  of  the  Beau- 
biens  living  amongst  us.  The  interest  of  Mr.  J.  B.  lieaubien  being 
attached  to  Chicairo.  he  induced  his  brother  Mark  to  come  from 
Michigan,  their  original  residence,  who  arrived  at  the  town  in 
lS2r>.  Soon  alter  his  arrival  he  bought  a  small  log  house  which 
.lohn  Kinzie  had  built,  al)out  at  the  present  corner  of  Lake  and 
]\Lirket  streets,  for  one  hundred  dollars.  Here  he  ojMMied  a  tavern, 
if  his  hut  deserved  such  a  name.  'J'he  manner  in  which  he  enter- 
tained his  jjuests.  accord in<;  to  his  own  statement  when  interview- 
ed  by  a  Times  rejwrter  in  1870,  atlbrds  a  specimen  of  ingenious 

•Schoolcraft's  thirty  years.      -4_, 


420  The  Kmzitis. 

audacity  which  could  only  be  condoned  by  that  briinininfjj  exu- 
berance of  jolity  and  good  fellowship  that  ever  abided  around  hia» 
and    disarmed  criticism.     Says    this    incarnation    of    comedy:. 

"  I  had  no  ped,  but  when  traveler  come  tor  lodjj^iiig,  I  <jivt!  him  planket  to  cover 
himself  up  in  on  de  Hoor,  and  tell  him  to  look  out,  tor  liijfiin  stfal  it.  Uen  when 
he  gits  to  sleep  1  take  de  planket  way  carefuliy  an  j^ive  it  to  iioder  man  and  tell 
him  same,  so  1  always  have  ])eds  for  all  "hit  want  em. 

This  device  was  certainly  not  tlie  result  of  any  niy-ijanlly  disposi- 
tion on  his  part;  but  a  necessary  expedient  by  which  no  -iuest 
should  be  rejected  from  his  entertainment.  From  this  small  be- 
ginning he  rose  in  respectability,  until  in  1881  he  enhirgo<l  his 
tavern  to  a  two  story  building  with  green  l)linds,  and  in  ijonor  of 
Billy  Caldwell,  whose  Indian  name  was  Sagaunash,  thus  naiueil 
the  liouse. 

lie  is  the  father  of  twenty-three  cliilch'cn,  sixteen  by  his  first  wilo,^ 
whom  he  married  at  Detroit,  AEichigaii.  and  seven  by  his  second. 
His  present  home  is  Newark,  TUinois,  where  he  is  enjoying  a 
green  old  aire,  not  yet  forsaken  by  that  cxress  of  good  humor  that 
has  carried  him  so  easily  through  a  liff,  that  without  it.  must  have 
been  full  of  perplexity.  A  single  look  at  k\w  ingenioi.s  old  man 
might  for  the  moment  lift  the  bui'dcii  trom  a  sorrowing  iieart.* 

Equally  allied  to  wliat  may  with  jiroprit'ty  be  called  the  medie- 
val period  of  (Jhieago's  history,  is  JMi'.  Robert  Kinzie,  (yonng»>r 
brother  of  .John  11 ).  Both  were  here  at  m  time  of  the  massaen^, 
and  rescued  with  their  father,  John  Kinzie,  and  returned  to  tlio 
place  in  ISlti,  since  whii-h  time  Chicagi)  has  been  their  huuie  the 
most  of  their  time  till  their  deaths.  That  of  John  II.  ha>  iilreaily 
been  noticed.  Roiiert  survived  him  till  December  loth,  18T:>, 
when  he  ]»assed  away  and  was  buried  in  (iiaciiand.  His  wife  in 
still  livintr  in  (yhicacjo.  Her  maiden  name  was  (Jwinthlean  11. 
Whistler.  Her  grandfather  was  the  siune  who  built  Fort  Dear- 
born in  1803.  She  was  born  at  Fort  Howard,  and  sjtent  her 
infantile  years  in  that  wild  frontier  till  eleven  years  old,  when 
she  went  with  her  father  to  Fort  Xiagai-a,  from  wliicli  place,  alter 
a  three  years'  residence,  he  cam<!  to  (Miicago  to  take  command  ot 
Ft.  Dearborn,  she  accompauyiug  him.  Here  .she  married  Air.  It. 
Kinzie  in  183-lr.  Helen  AI.  and  Maria  H..  daughters  of  John 
Kinzie  were  born  in  Chicago,  the  former  in  1805  and  the  latter  in 
1807.  Both  were  rescued  from  the  nuissacre  with  their  older 
brothers,  John  H.  and  Itobert.  Maria  II.  became  the  wife  of 
General  David  Hunter.  Both  she  and  lier  iiusbund  are  now  liv- 
ing in  AVashington. 

V  olurnes  could  be  written  on  the  experiences  of  these  male  and^ 


*The  writer  called  on  him  when  he  lived  near  NauerviUe,  in  18(10.     His  olcT 
fashioued  French  furniture  ueemed  to  still  link  him  uack  to  his  own  early  age 


The  Fir,st  Newspaper.  421 

l(;ina!e  pioneers.  It  is  refreshing  to  be  in  their  presence  and 
'Commune  wltli  them  on  the  age  tluit  has  just  preceded  th*^  one 
an  wliich  we  live.  Tiiey  were  educated  in  a  school  that  tran- 
scended the  average  solicitndes  of  our  day  in  utilitarian  con<li- 
tions.  The  problem  with  them  how  they  were  to  secure  the 
positive;  .vants  of  the  mind  and  Ijody,  was  ever  foreuutst  of  that 
as  to  how  they  should  obtain  the  fictitious  ones;  hence  their 
efforts  were  not  wasted  in  the  pursuit  ot  the  unattainable,  for  the 
destined  goal  of  him  who  seeks  the  fulliriuient  of  capricious  and 
selfish  purposes  only,  vanishes  in  the  distance  as  age  begins  to 
shorten  the  step  and  check  the  foycv.  of  his  cureer;  and  he  dies'^ 
under  the  painful  conviction  that  he  has  livt'd  in  vain.  The  an- 
tidote to  tliis  last  despair  is  found  in  an  active  life,  with  our 
mental  joints  (if  the  metaphor  is  a(hnissible)  lubricated  with  that 
kind  of  magnanimity  that  pioneer  life  is  almost  sure  to  beget, 
and  wliich  is  by  no  means  a  lost  art.  even  in  this  age  of  sharp 
rivalship,  though  it  is  not  too  much  to  s;iy  that  newly  .settled 
countries  are  more  favorable  to  its  growth. 

Anew  em  now  0]>en^  upon  Chicago,  one  destined  to  sjiread 
lier  fame  throughout  the  world,  and  to  infuse  into  newspaper 
literature  that  essential  manifesto  of  progress  which  the  elastic 
spirits  of  new  countries  are  sure  to  call  into  heing.  To  say  less 
than  this  would  not  do  full  justice  to  Chicago  jtuirnalism. 

On  the  2(ith  of  November,  ISoJ},  the  first  sheer  ap])eared  under 
rhe  title  of  T/ie  Cli'tafgn  1),  mo^-rat,  edited  and  ])ul)lislR!d  by 
.lohn  Calhoun,  corner  of  l>:iSall(!  and  South  AVater  streets.  A 
well  written  editorial  ap]H'Mrs  in  the  first  number,  setting  forth 
the  policy  of  the  {taper  with  temperate  and  modest  pr('ten>ions 
withal,  eviiicing  a  nia>terly  skill  in  editorial  capability  which 
does  honor  to  his  army  of  successors.  The  same  number  con- 
gratulates the  Chicagoans  on  the  success  of  Mr.  Owi'U  at  the 
treaty  just  negotiated,  in  overcoming  the  objections  of  tlie  Indi- 
ans to  removing  to  their  new  home  in  Missouri,  and  equ;dly  con- 
gratulates the  Indians  on  the  ]>ros])ect  of  soon  getting  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  depradations  of  "■  un]>rincipled  civilized  borderers." 
Liberal  quotations  from  liter:iry  journals,  poetry,  as  good  as  the 
average  newspaper  musings,  wit  and  wisdom,  and  a  moderate 
amount  of  advertiseiiieiits,  fill  up  the  six  column  sheet  cr(>(litably. 

The  third  nurnl>er  advertises  an  English  and  classical  academy, 

corner  of  Water  ami  Franklin  >treets,  which  must  have  been  the 

first  of  its  kind  in  Chicago.     In  the  issue  of  June  11th,  1S;{4,  is 

u  quotation   from  Cobbett,   the   English  historian   and  essayist, 

evidently  intended  as  a  trite  description  of  Chicago  young  girls: 

'The  fcirls  of  America"  (says  this  Catholic  Father),  "are  beautiful  and 
oitMiffected  ;  perfectly  frank,  anil  at  the  same  tiiuu  perfectly  uiodeat;  but  when 


422 


Siibscript'wn  List. 


you  make  them  an  offer  of  your  liaiul,  be  prepared  to  give  it,  for  wait  tliey  will 
not.  In  England  we  trequently  hear  of  courtships  of  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
In  that  anti-Malthusian  country  a  quarter  of  a  year  is  deemed  to  be  rather 
iengrthy." 

June  11th,  1S34,  the  following  appears,  win cli  is  reproduced  ini 

these  pages  to  show  the  progress  of  emigration  and  the  means  of 

travel : 
• 

Hardly  a  vessel  arrives  that  is  not  crowded  with  emigrants,  and  the  stage 
that  now  runs  twice  a  week  from  the  East  is  thronged  with  triivelers.  The 
steamboat  Pioneer,  which  now  performs  her  regular  trips  to  St.  Josepli,  is  also 
a  great  accommodation  to  the  traveling  community.  Loaded  teams  and  cov- 
ered wagons,  laden  with  families  and  goods,  are  daily  arriving  and  settling 
upon  the  country  back. 

June  28th  the  editor  congratulates  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the 
prospect  of  a  railroad  to  connect  with  the  Miami  canal. 

The  Illinois  and  Michigan  canal  is  frequently  commented  on, 
not  only  as  essential  to  the  success  of  Chicago,  but  as  a  national 
necessity. 

The  subscription  list  of  the  paper  is  still  preserved,  and  is 
copied  here  as  a  valuable  record  of  the  business  men  of  Chicaga 
at  that  day,  for  nearly  all  took  the  paper. 


—  City  subscription 

A.  Lloyd, 

C.  k  1.  Harmon, 
Chester  Ingersoll, 
Dr.   W.  Clark, 
John  Miller, 
Samuel  Brown, 
>iewben-y  <te  Dole, 
G.  Kercheval, 
.tames  Kinzie, 
E.  A.  Rider, 
H.  b.  Clark, 
Robert  Kinzie, 
P.  J.  Lewis, 
P.  F.  W.  Peck, 
James  H.  Muiford, 
Jolm  Wright, 
Alansoi)  Sweet, 
R.  M.  Sweet, 
Philo  Carpenter, 
(i.  Spring, 
.John  K  Boyer, 
Star  Foot, 
M.  B.  Beaubien, 
T.  J.  V.  Owen, 
W.  H.  Brown, 

B.  .Tones, 
L  Allen, 

J.  K.  Botsford, 
J.  B.  Tuttli 
Col.  R.  I.  Hamilton, 
Charles  Wisencraft, 
E.  S.  ThraU, 


book  of  Chicago  Democrat, 

J.  Dean  Caton. 
Eli  B.  Williams, 
Samuel  Wayman, 
Archibald  Cly bourn, 
Augustus  Rugsley, 
Silas  B.  Cobb, 
Abel  Breed, 
E.  H.  Haddock, 
Irad  Hill, 
Albert  Forbes, 
Doct.  Maxwell, 
•  Hiram  Hugenin, 
A.  Merrill, 
James  Herrington, 
George  N.  Powell, 
Jonathan  Hix, 
Joseph  A.  Barnes, 
Mancel  Talcott, 
Alanson  Filer, 
Douplus  Sloan, 
A.  Woodruff, 
Daniel  Elston, 
Luther  Hatch, 
George  W.  Snow, 
P.  L.  Upclyke, 
John  L.  Sergents, 
John  Watkins, 
Mathias  Mason, 
John  Wellmaker, 
I.  Solomon, 
N.  F.  Hnrd. 
James  Mitchell, 


dated  November,  18:33. 
Charles  Viani, 
Lt.  L.  T.  Jamieson, 
Librarian,  Ft.  Dearborn. 

E.  Wentworth, 
George  Walker. 
Stephen  E.  Downer, 
Abel  E.  Carpenter, 
John  B.  Beaubien, 
Parke  I-  M.  Cole, 

J.  R.  Brown, 
Solomon  Lincoln, 

F.  Forbes, 
Rufus  Brown, 

Rev.  Jpremiah  Porter,. 

T.  C.  Sproat, 

Peter  AVarden, 

Philip  Scott, 

E.  \V.  Casey, 

J.  L.  Thompson, 

H.  T.  Harding, 

E.  S.  Kimberly, 

P.  Pruyn, 

Peter  Cohen, 

Brewster,  Hogan  &  Co. 

C.  H.  Chapman, 

Piatt  Thorn, 

J.  P.  Brady, 

Jacob  G.  Patterson, 

George  Hertington, 

Aleximder  N.  FullertCiV 

M.  K.  Brown, 

Silas  W.  Sherman, 


Early  Job  Printing. 


i2a 


Nelson  It.  Norton, 
Bonjiimin  Hall, 
N.  Carpenter, 
Hiram  Lumbard, 
Samuel  Harmon, 
J.  W   Reed, 
Walter  Kimball, 
William  Taylor, 
H.  Barnes, 
E.  Brown, 
Ahisa  Hubbard, 
R.  E.  Herrick, 
Tliemas  Hoyt, 
Edward  E.  Hunter, 
John  Noble, 
Ford  Freeman, 
Hiram  Pease, 


Oliver  Losier, 
John  Marshall, 
S.  Ellis, 
Isaac  Harmon, 
C.  B.  Dodson, 
L.  Barnes, 
Richard  Steele, 
Henry  Hopkins, 
Elijah  Clark, 
William  Taylor, 
Mark  Beaubien, 
John  H.  Kenzie, 
C.  H.  Chapman, 
Paul  Burdeck, 
George  Bickerdike, 
Aug.  Penoyer, 
Jones  &  King. 


Robert  Williston, 
John  Davis, 
H.  C.  West, 
Bvron  King, 
John  T.  Temple, 
W^illiam  Cooley, 
Rathbone  Sanford, 
Orsemus  Morrison, 
James  Walker, 
Gilbert  Carpenter, 
Benjamin  Briggs, 
W.  Vanderberg, 
Benjamin  F.  Barker, 
Samuel  Brown, 
H.  I.  Cleveland, 
S.  C.  George, 
B.  Caldwell, 


The  Account  Book  which  Mr.  Calhoun  kept  is  equally  valua- 
ble as  a  memento  of  the  village  days  of  Chicago.  xVmong  the 
charges  for  job  printing,  ball  tickets,  are  no  inconsiderable  item. 

Government  blanks  for  the  land  office'*  were  a  good  source  of 
income,  for  which  Mr.  Calhoun  may  thank  his  young  wife,  not 
only  for  her  patient  industry  in  helping  to  execute  the  jobs,  but 
for  her  inventive  genius  in  improvising  a  way  to  press  the 
printed  sheets  to  give  them  the  necessary  finish  after  being 
printed.  For  the  want  of  a  lever  press  to  do  this  Mrs.  Calhoun 
suggested  a  flat-iron,  and  oftered  to  iron  every  sheet  in  a  run  of 
3,U00,  which  she  did,  and  turned  out  the  job  in  immaculate 
smoothni'ss.  Besides  assisting  her  husband  by  this  laborious 
undertaking,  she  helped  him  in  correcting  his  proof,  and  in  the 
general  executive  labors  of  the  office. 

By  the  request  of  her  husband  she  preserves  during  her  life- 
time the  entire  file  of  his  papers,  and  I  trist  that  I  betray  no 
confidence  by  stating  that,  from  ray  conversation  with  her  as  to 
their  final  disposition,  I  infer  that  she  will  bequeath  them  to  the 
Chicago  Historical  Society. 

The  last  issue  of  his  paper  bears  date  of  November  16th,  1S3G, 
two  days  before  which  time  by  contract  it  was  sold  to  Ploratio 
Hill,  a  present  resident  of  (Chicago,  and  brother  of  Isaac  Hill,  of 
New  Hampshire,  its  hard  money  Governor  who  «aid,  in  order  to 
give  point  to  his  issue  with  the  Whig  party,  that  a  bank  of  dirt 
was  the  best  bank,  and  a  plow-share  the  best  share  in  it.f  Mr. 
Hill  immediately  transferred  his  contract  to  Mr.  John  Went- 


*The  Govt.  Land  Office  was  opened  June  1st,  18^35,  under  charge  of  Col.  E.  D. 
Taylor  and  James  Whitlock. 

tThis  pithy  similitude  is  here  reproduced  from  niiuish  memory,  when  the 
father  of  the  writer  read  Mr.  Hills  message  to  select  coterie  of  listeners 
among  whom  he  was  an  attentive  one. 


Wolff's  Point.  "  '  :     ; 

worth,  wlio  then  came  to  Chicago  and  began  his  eventfnl  career 
where  Mr.  Calhoun  left  off  as  a  journalist.  The  paper  was  con- 
tinued under  the  same  name  by  Mr.  Wentworth,  of  which  more 
will  be  said  in  its  appropriate  place. 

For  more  than  twelve  years  previous  to  this  time,  the  fork  of 
the  river  then  known  by  the  name  of  WolflF's  Point  (so  named 
after  an  Indian  chief)  was  the  centre  of  Chicago  attractions. 
Here  stood  the  old  Miller  house,  on  the  north  side,  erected  by 
Alexander  Robinson*  in  1820.  To  him  it  was  a  palace,  where  he 
entertained  not  only  his  Indian  friends,  but  such  white  persons  as 
wished  to  secure  Indian  tiade  hy  the  distribution  of  presents 
among  them.  Mr.  Itobinson  was  early  in  the  employ  of  Conant 
and  Mack  as  an  Indian  trader  on  Fox  river,  and  afterwards  em- 
ployed in  the  same  service  by  Mr.  Lawton,  on  the  Desplaines. 
He  sijoke  ^)oth  the  English  and  Pottawatomie  languages  with 
ease,  and  on  conventional  occasions  acted  as  interpreter. 

It  is  not  known  at  what  time  he  dis|)osed  of  his  house  at  the 
fork,  but  it  is  kmjwn  that  in  1832  Mr.  Samuel  Miller  ke[)t  tavern 
here — the  same  who  had  married  Elizabeth  Kinzie,  the  third  child 
of  John  Kinzie,  by  ]\[argaret,  his  first  wife.  She  died  at  this 
house  in  Auiiust.  1832.  The  oriirinal  buildinii' was  madeot  lo":s, 
but  afterwards  co\  ered  with  weather-boards,  to  give  it  the  a})])ear- 
ance  of  a  frame  house.  But  even  at  this  early  day  the  whole 
structure  \\as  in  a  state  of  decay,  es])ecially  the  roof,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  accompanying  picture.  It  had  before  this  date  served 
as  church,  schoolliouse  and  private  residence. 

On  the  west  bank  of  the  river,  at  the  immediate  junction  of 
the  two  branches,  was  a  tavern  kept  by  Elijah  Wentworth  in 
1833.     This  was  at  the  time  the  model  hotel  of  the  town. 

Robert  A.  Kin/.ie  had  a  store,  in  1 832,  where  the  MenasliiAVood- 
en  Ware  Co.  now  is,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  Thomas  (yook 
then  lived  iiuniediatly  Wf>t  of  the  Green  Tree,  following  the  oc- 
cupation of  teamster,  lie  is  still  living  at  his  home,  in  Lyons. 
The  Green  Trei'  i»  still  standing,  bl'in^■  the  northeast  corner  of 
Lake  and  Canal  stnrets.  It  was  built  by  John  H.  Kinzie,  and  is 
the  oldest  building  in  the  city  at  the  present  day.  For  many 
years  it  has  been  known  as  the  Lake  Street  House,  but  it  is  now 
a  common  ^aloon  :ind  private  dwelling.  Immediately  east  of  this 
place  James  Kinzie  kept  a  store  in  1835,  where  he  drove  a  thriv- 
injr  trade  with  Indians  and  new  comers.     Alexander  liobiuson's 

*Mr.  Robinson's  father  was  a  Canadian  voyajronr,  of  Scottish  descent,  in  the 
euiftloy  of  a  fur  company,  and  his  mother  a  Pottawatomie  woman.  He  was 
bred  to  his  father's  occupation,  and  became  a  useful  man  in  his  sphere,  as  well 
as  a  true  friend  to  the  Indians,  for  which  Ctause  he  rose  to  the  position  of  princi- 
pal chief  of  the  Pottawatomies,  and  remained  such  till  their  i^movol,  in  1^. 


AUmnder  liobitison.-,-  425 

second  residence  was  situated  between  Lake  and  Randolph  streets, 
on  the  west  side.  His  place  was  generally  lively  with  Indians, 
in  the  declining  glories  of  their  latter  days  in  Chicago.  Groups 
■of  blanketed  squaws,  with  their  pappooses  slung  on  their  backs, 
in  birch  bark  pockets,  and  an  equal  number  of  braves,  dodaubed 
with  paint  and  oniauiented  with  ftathers,  hung  around  his  doors 
in  listless  dalliance,  while  among  them  a  few  white  druininers 
might  sometimes  be  seen  distributing  free  whiskey  to  secure 
their  trade.  A  few  h(nirs'  boisterous  yelling  and  a  war-dance 
M^ould  wind  up  the  scene,  and  with  the  small  hours  of  morn- 
ing tranquility  would  be  restored. 

It  may  appear  strange  to  some  that  a  man  of  Mr.  Koblnson's 
integrity  and  reputation  for  excellence  in  those  qualifications 
which  make  up  the  character  of  the  model  citizen,  should  inter- 
mingle and  associate  with  the  low  class  of  Indians  that  came  and 
wi'ut  freely  to  and  from  his  house,  and  for  this  apparent  incoii- 
sisrency  history  ought  to  make  an  a])ology  in  his  behalf;  not  on  - 
liis  individual  account,  but  because  he  was  one  of  but  a  small 
number  left  wlio  represented  the  once  lofty  virtues  of  his  race  in 
their  purer  and  happier  days,  and  who,  after  a  hundred  and  tifty 
years'  occupation  of  Chicago  in  company  with  the  Frencli,  were 
now  taking  their  leave  forever  of  this  place  so  dear  to  them. 

"  A  man's  a  man  for  a'  tlla^" 
M-as  a  sentiment  uf  wliicii  Iu)l>irisou  felt  the  true  foivc.  !Xu  one 
c'ltuld  be  too  low  to  become  a  recipient  of  his  favor,  a!id  no  one 
BO  high  in  his  estimation  as  to  be  uuiipproachable  through  the 
coumiou  tonus  of  respect.  Being  half  Indian,  and  having  a  wife 
of  tiie  same  race,  he  was  shut  out  from  civilized  sociery  tot-ially, 
and  to  have  cut  loose  from  the  Indians  would  have  left  iiiui  with- 
out iiiflence.  and  alone  in  the  world.  This  same  principle  is  not 
tinfrequeutiy  seen  now-a-days  when  a  partisan  politician  in  de- 
fense of  some  dogma  essential  to  secure  public  spoils,  receives  on 
tei'His  of  Social  e(|ualitv  ])er.-uns  lar  beneath  his  station,  and  Rob- 
inson was  nore  justitialiK;  than  these,  because  his  motive  was  not  a 
Belfi>li  one,  but  tlie  i-esult  of  an  inevitable  destiny.  In  ]8:5o  Mr. 
Philo  Carpenter  ]. resented  the  temperance  pledge  to  him  (the 
first,  says  Mr.  Carpenter  to  the  writer,  that  was  ever  drawn  u])  in 
Chicago).  After  a  moment*:  reflection  he  signed  it,  at  tlie  same 
time  proving  the  sincerity  of  his  resolution  by  drawing  a  flask  of 
•whisky  from  his  ])ocket  and  emj)tying  its  contents  on  the  ground. 
It  is  not  known  how  long  he  held  his  resolution,  but  he  never 
■was  a  druid<ard.  <      > 

The  removal  of  his  tril>e  was  a  turning  point  in  his  life.  The 
issue  now  came  directly  to  him  which  to  choose — an  Indian  or  a 
civilized  life.     After  weigliing  the  matter,  in  consideration  of  his 


426  V  .    .  Alexander  Kohlnson.  ' 

children's  best  good,  lie  chose  the  latter,  not  without  painful  emo- 
tions on  his  part,  and  sore  disappointment  on  the  part  of  his 
tribe.  Soon  after  tlicir  removal  he  moved  to  liis  reservation  on 
the  Desplaines  river,  and  became  a  farmer  highly  esteemed  by- 
all  who  knew  him.  His  wife  was  equally  exemplary  in  her  walk 
in  life,  and  afforded  one  of  the  many  proofs  that  the  pure  Indian 
is  possessed  of  high  virtues  when  circumstances  favor  their 
growth,  which  is  all  that  can  be  said  of  any  one.  His  daughter 
Cynthia,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Cooney,  is  now  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
to  which  place  the  family  recently  came,  for  the  laudable  purpose 
of  educating  their  children.  From  her  the  writer  has  learned 
that  her  father  came  to  Chicago  in  1S06,  and  henceforward  made 
it  his  home  till  he  retired  to  his  reservation  on  the  Desplaines. 
He  was  not  present  at  the  massacre  of  1S12,  but  on  hearing  of  it 
returned  in  time  to  unite  with  the  Sanganash  and  P)lack  Par- 
tridge to  save  the  lives  of  the  })risoners,  and  when  his  own  life 
was  threatened  for  his  courageous  interposition  to  this  end.  Says 
his  daughter:  "  He  told  the  would-be  assassins  that  they  might 
destroy  the  white  Mood  in  him,  hut  must  not  touch  the  Indian.'''^ 
This  dilemma,  with  its  complex  issue,  helped  to  turn  the  scale  in 
favor  of  the  prisoners,  and  when  the  issue  was  settled,  he  took 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Helm  under  his  charge  and  rowed  them  in  liis  ca- 
noe around  the  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan  and  along  its  eastern 
shore  to  Mackinaw.  He  lived  to  see  the  great  fire  of  1871,  and 
as  he  beheld  its  desolations  from  Lake  street  bridge,  he  gave  a 
lusty  whoop,  and  exclaimed  that  he  once  more  saw  tlie  open  prai- 
rie there  as  in  the  old  days  of  his  own  prime.  He  died  the  next 
year,  April  19th,  1872,  at  the  advanced  age  of  110  years,  accord- 
ing to  Robert  Kinzie's  estimate,  who  says  that  he  was  born  be- 
fore his  father,  John  Kenzie.  Some  others  set  his  age  at  105,. 
but  all  agree  as  to  his  wonderful  longevity;  and  no  one  chal- 
lenges his  record  for  uprightness,  hospitality  and  benevolence. 

An  equally  noble  specimen  of  an  upright  man  was  Shabonee, 
whose  eulogy  has  been  told  by  Col.  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  in  a 
pamphlet  ])ublished  by  the  Chicago  Historical  Society.* 

In  addition  to  Mr.  Hubbard's  voucher  as  to  the  integrity  of 
Shabonee,  the  following  bit  of  his  history  from  Chicago's  well 
known  citizen,  Wm.  Hickling,  Esq.,  is  only  a  just  tribute  to  the 

*"  I  cannot  close,"  says  Mr.  Hubbard,  "Without  adding  my  testimony  ta 
that  of  Mr.  Hicklings,  i-egarding  the  character  and  services  of  that  noble  Indian 
€hief,  Shabonee.  f 

From  my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  which  began  in  the  fall  of  1818,  to  his 
death  I  was  impressed  with  the  nobleness  of  his  character.  Physically  he  was 
as  fine  a  specimen  of  a  man  as  I  ever  saw;  tall,  well  proportioned,  strong  and 

t  His  nume  has  been  speUed  In  two  ways  by  his  biographers. 


Shahoiiee.  42T 

memory  of  him  whose  remains  now  lienor  our  soil,  and  whose 
life-size  portrait  is  treasured  in  grateful  memory  by  the  Chicago 
Historial  society.  * 

The  same  treaty  which  gave  to  Caldwell,  Robinson  and  others 
of  our  Indians  and  half-breeds,  their  reservations  of  land,  also 
gave  two  sections  toShabonee.  This  he  desired  to  be  so  located 
that  it  would  include  his  old  home  and  council-house  in  the 
grove  before  mentioned.  By  direction  of  Major  Langham,  then 
Surveyor-General  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  a  survey  and  plat  of 
the  reservation  was  made  by  a  Deputy  Surveyor,  and  Shabonee 
fondly  hoped  that  the  house  which  he  and  his  family  had  occu- 

Eied  for  so  many  years  was  secured  to  him  and  them  forever.  I 
elieve  that  in  all  the  other  reservations  of  land  granted  by  the 
aforementioned  treaty,  that  all  the  parties  thereto,  having  such 
reservations,  enjoyed  them  in  fee,  and  only  required  the  consent 
of,  and  signature  of  the  President  of  the  IJnited  States,  in  order 
to  pass  a  good  title  to  parties  purchasing  such  reserved  lands. 
"Why  Shabonee's  case  should  differ  from  all  the  rest  I  could  never 
determine.  At  any  rate,  when  the  survey  of  the  public  lands 
lying  north  of  the  old  Indian  boundary  line  was  ordered  by  the 
Land  Department  to  be  made,  the  Deputy  Surveyor  had  instruc- 
tions to  ignore  the  previous  survey  of  the  reservations,  and 
include  the  lands  thereon  contained  in  the  regular  section  lines  of 
the  United  States  survey,  and  during  the  absence  of  poor  old 
Shabonee  and  his  family  in  Kansas,  these  lands  were  sold  by  pub- 
active,  with  a  face  expressing  great  strength  of  naind  and  goodness  of  heart. 
Had  he  been  favored  with  the  advantages  of  education,  he  might  have  com- 
manded a  high  position  among  the  men  of  his  day.  He  was  remarkable  for  his 
integrity,  of  a  generous  and  forgiving  nature,  always  hospitable,  and  until  his 
return  from  the  west,  a  strictly  temperate  man,  not  only  abstaining  himself 
from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  but  influencing  his  people  to  do  the  same.  He 
was  ever  a  friend  to  the  white  settlers,  and  should  be  held  by  them  in  grateiuL 
remembrance.  He  had  an  uncommonly  retentive  memory^  and  a  perfect  knowl- 
edge of  this  western  country.  He  would  readily  draw  on  the  sand  or  a  bed  of 
ashes,  quite  a  correct  map  of  the  whole  district  from  the  lakes  to  the  Missouri' 
river,  giving  general  cour.*es  of  rivers,  designating  towns  and  places  of  notori- 
ety, even  though  ho  had  never  seen  them.  *  *  *  It  ought  to  be  a  matter  of 
regret  and  mortification  to  us  all  that  our  government  so  wronged  this  man 
(who  so  often  periled  his  own  life  to  save  those  of  the  whites),  by  withholding' 
from  him  the  title  to  the  land  granted  him  under  a  solemn  treaty.  The  com- 
missioners representing  our  government  having  given  him  tiieir  pledge  that  the 
land  allotted  him  by  the  Pottawatomie  nation  should  be  guaranteed  to  hi.n  by 
our  government,  and  he  protected  in  its  ownership.  He  never  sold  his  right  to 
the  land,  but  by  force  was  driven  from  it,  when  lie  returned  from  the  west  to- 
take  possession  and  found  that  our  government  disregarded  his  rights  and 
sold  it." 

*  This  portrait  was  painted  from  life  by  Mr.  F.  B.  Young,  of  Rome,  N.  Y.  It 
was  presented  to  the  society  by  Mr.  Cyrus  F.  Miller,  of  Rockford,  at  which  place- 
.  it  was  painted  in  1840. 


428  Sfiahonee.     - 

lie  sale  at  Dixon.  The  home  of  the  old  Chief  and  ^  -'s  family 
passed  into  other  hands,  strangers  to  him,  and  in  answer  to  an 
^appeal  made  at  Wasliin^ton  in  Shabonee's  helialf,  the  Commis- 
tsioner  of  the  General  Land  Departtnent,  in  answer,  said  that 
Shabonee  had  forfeited  and  lost  his  title  to  the  lands  by  removing 
■away  from  them. 

In  1837  Shabonee  was  notified  by  the  Indian  Agent,  that  by 
the  tejjms  of  the  late  treaty,  all  members  of  his  band,  with  the 
exception  of  those  of  his  own  family,  must  remove  to  their  new 
reservations  in  Western  Missouri.  The  parting  with  so  many  of 
those  with  whom  he  so  long  had  been  associated,  he  could  not 
■endure,  eo  he  resolved  with  all  his  family,  to  accompany  '^^hem  to 
their  new  homes.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  the  whole  tribe,  some 
130  in  number,  reached  the  reservation  in  bafety;  but  no  sooner 
liad  Shabonee  and  his  family  reached  their  lodges  in  their  new 
homes  than  new  troubles  began.  The  Sauks  and  Foxes,  unfortu- 
nately, had  their  new  reservations  in  close  proximity  to  that  of 
the  Pottawattoinies  and  Ottawas.  The  well-known  liostility  a  few 
years  previous  of  Shabonee  to  I^lack  Hawk,  and  the  part  which 
the  Ottawas  took  against  him  and  his  followers  in  the  war  which 
followed,  were  still  tresh  in  the  mind  of  the  individual  Sank  leader, 
and  made  enemies  of  two  noted  braves  wlio,  at  an  earlier  period 
of  their  career,  had  for  so  many  years  heen  fighting  Ado  by  side 
under  the  eye  of  their  leader  Tecumsch.  Tlu'  warfare  against 
"Shabitnce  and  liis  taniily  residted  in  the  murder  of  his  eldest  son 
and  a  nephew,  who  were  killed  soon  after  their  arrival  in  AN''est(!rn 
Missouri.  The  old  Chief  Shabonee  narrowly  escaped  with  his 
life  from  the  vengeance  of  his  toes.  This  canscd  1dm  and  his 
family  to  return  to  Illinois  in  about  one  year  after  having  lett  it. 
From  this  time  until  in  1849,  Shabonee  and  his  family,  some  20 
to  25  in  number,  lived  at  the  (Jrove  in  peace  and  (]uietness  with 
the  white  neighbors  surrounding  them.  Ey  this  time  the  Potta- 
wattomies  and  Ottawas  had  been  again  removed  to  a  new  reser- 
vation granted  them  in  Kans;is.  ;ind  Shabonee  ngain,  with  his 
family,  left  their  old  homes  in  Illinois,  to  join  their  red  brethren 
in  the  new  one  to  be  occupied.  He  n^nained  there  with  his  old 
friends  and  trilie,  some  three  years,  then  again  with  his  family, 
retraced  their  steps  bu'-k  to  tlu'ir  old  home  in  the  llli'iois  grove, 
•only  to  find  his  vilhiife  and  lands  in  the  ])ossi's8ion  of  strangers; 
the  old  home  he  and  his  family  had  occupied  for  more  than  40 
years,  was  lost  to  him  f  yer.  When  liefuUy  re,ili/,(>d  his  forlorn 
situation,  it  issuid  that  '  m  old  warrior  who  ])rob;il>ly  liad  scarcely 
«ver  before  shed  a  tear,  here  "we])t  like  a  child."  IJut  hiscn])of 
misery  was  not  yet  fuM.  An  ■  *eeling  brute,  the  new  owner  of 
the  land  upon  which  on   b"      '   turn   Shabonee  and   his  family 


iihahonee.  42^" 

■'.Hi   . 

encamped,  cursed  the  poor  old  man  for  havini^  cut  a  few  lod^e- 
poles  on  what  he  tlionglit  was  his  own  property,  and  perempto- 
rily ordered  him  and  his  family  to  leave  the  Grove.  This  thev 
did,  and  it  is  said  that  Shabonee  never  visited  it  again.  A  few 
friends,  realizing  the  destitute  situation  in  which  the  poor  old 
Chief  and  his  lamily  were  placed,  purchased  for  him  a  sjuall 
tract  of  twenty  acres  of  timber  land  on  the  Mazon  Creek,  a 
short  distance  south  of  Morris,  in  this  State.  The  situation  of 
the  land  and  its  surroundings  were  ^f  a  character  to  suit  the  In- 
dians. The  land  was  fenced  in,  a  small  sjwt  broken  up  for  tiihige, 
and  a  double  Jog  cabin  built  for  then,     llere  in   a  semi-state  of 

f)overty  and  wretchedness,  the  old  Chief  and  part  of  his  family 
ived,  most  of  the  time  in  wigwams  or  tents,  using  tlie  house  for 
storage  purposes  and  as  a  barn. 

Shabonee  died  July  27,  1859,  ajjed  about  83  years,  lie  was 
buried  in  the  county  of  Grundy.and  be  it  said  to  the  shame  of  the 
white  men,  no  memorial  stone,  nothing  but  a  piece  of  Ijoard  stuck 
in  the  ground,  shows  the  spot,  where  lies  the  remains  of  tlie  best 
and  truest  Indian  friend  which  the  early  settlers  of  Northern  Illi- 
nois had  in  the  day  of  their  tril)nlati(m.  lie  was  not  much  of 
an  orator,  yet  his  words  of  wisdom  always  had  their  weight  iii 
council  deliberations.  Until  quite  hite  in  life  (after  his  return 
from  the  West  in  1838),  he  was  rei.,arkably  tt'inperate  in  his 
habits,  scarcely  ever  tasting  of  the  "fire-water,"  that  great  entnuy 
of  his  race.  No  doubt  his  long  association  with  Tecumseh, 
who  also  was  remarkably  temperate  in  his  habits,  had  its  in- 
fluence upon  the  mind  and  character  of  Shabome.  It  is  well 
known  that  Tecumseh,  both  by  precept  and  example,  ever  tried 
to  impress  on  the  minds  of  his  red  brethren,  that  most  of  the 
unnumbered  woes  which  had  been  fastened  upon  their  race  were 
in  the  main  attributable  to  their  inordinate  love  of  whiskey,  and 
the  usual  debaucheries  following  its  use.  Shabonee,  in  another 
trait  of  his  character,  showed  what  influence  had  been  niadeu|)on 
it  by  the  teachings  ol  his  model  leader  Tecumseh,  viz.:  his  hu- 
manity always  shown  and  protection  from  indiscriminate  slaugh- 
ter atlbrded  to  the  unfortunate  captives  of  war  who  fell  into  his 
Hands.     This  is  attesteil  to  bv  Caldwell  in  the  document  before 

ft/ 

ns. 

Surrounded  by  white  neighborf,  and.  almost  in  daily  contact 
with  civilized  man,  yet  this  contact  failed  to  produce  good  results. 
On  the  contrary,  that  '^o-called  civilized  man  too  otten  tempted 
the  poor  old  Indian  to  indulge  in  a  too  liberal  use  of  the  accursed 
"fire-water,"  which  generally  left  him  in  a  state  of  maudlin 
helplessness,  pitiable  to  behold.  Let  us  throw  a  veil  over  his  few 
faults,  and  remember  his  many  virtues." 


430  Black  Partridge. 

Black  Partridge,  whose  career  as  a  chief  preceded  that  of  Sha- 
bonee,  was  treated  like  an  enem_y  by  the  whites,  his  village  being 
burned  by  them  during  an  invasion  of  central  Illinois  in  1812, 
as  told  in  a  foregoing  chapter.  But  a  few  months  before  this 
wanton  act  of  hostility,  to  lustify  which  history  fails  to  lind 
any  provocation,  this  chief  had  nsed  his  utmost  endeavors  to 
prevent  his  tribe  from  making  war  upon  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  and  failing  in  this  purpose,  lie  gave  due  warning  to 
Oaptain  Heald  of  the  irrepressible  hostilit}'  of  the  Indians. 
After  the  massacre,  he  co-operated  with  Billy  Caldwell  to  save 
the  lives  of  all  the  prisoners,  and  procure  for  them  a  safe  passage 
to  the  British  lines.  To  omit  a  record  of  the  ill-requited  services 
of  these  chiefs,  who  represented  the  native  virtues  of  their  race, 
would  be  unjust  to  their  memory,  besides  losing  an  opportunity 
to  bring  to  ligiit  the  benevolent  bent  of  the  mind,  as  exemplified 
in  these  children  of  nature. 

Of  all  people  known  to  history,  the  Indians  are  the  best  subjects 
of  whom  to  study  the  iirst  elements  of  mental  philosophy,  because 
their  minds  were  untrammeied  by  any  other  influence  except 
what  was  inherited  from  nature,  which  cannot  be  said  of  any  of  the 
ancient  nations  of  savages  in  the  old  world.  No  penetration  could 
measure  from  the  wooilen  immobility  of  his  face  the  depths  of 
his  subtlety  as  an  enemy;  and  where  in  civilized  society  shall  we 
find  his  match  in  self-sacriflce,  when,  as  a  captive,  he  returns  to 
his  enemies  on  a  parole  of  honor,  with  an  almost  certainty  that 
he  will  be  executed. 

Numerous  instances  of  this  have  occurred  in  their  more  heroic 
age,  but  one  has  recently  occurred,  a  living  witness  of  which 
now  lives  in  Chicago.  Among  the  victims  of  the  Indian  Creek 
massacre  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  was  a  family  named  Beresfovd. 
After  the  peace,  two  young  Indians  were  identified  as  the  perpe- 
trators of  the  crime,  and  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  of  LaSalle 
county  and  placed  in  the  custody  of  Mr.  George  E.  Walker,  of 
Ottawa,  (sheriff*.)  Soon  after,  the  tribe  to  which  these  indicted 
Indians  belonged  wei'e  removed  to  the  Missouri,  Mr.  AValker 
allowing  the  alleged  criminals  to  go  with  them,  under  a  voucher 
that  they  should  return  to  be  trietl,  and  so  much  confidence  did 
he  place  in  their  honor,  that  he  signed  their  bail-bond.  Six 
months  later  their  trial  came,  and  Mr.  AValker  went  alone  after 
them,  and  they  voluntarily  returned  to  Ottawa  in  his  custody 
for  trial,  expecting  to  be  executed,  but  tliey  were  cleared  for 
want  of  positive  evidence.*  Let  us  not  forget  the  griefs  the 
Indians  have  suflfered  at  the  hands  of  our  apostates  of  civiliza- 

*  Ottawa  Free  Trader,  November  ITWi,  1874.  Mr.  Walker  died  in  November, 
.1874,  at  the  residence  of  his  son  in  Chicago,  No.  34  Indiana  Ave. 


Chicago  in  1834.  431 

tion,  auJ  remember  that  their  condign  vengeance  was  measured 
<mt  to  offset  these  abuses.  Never  hlame  an  Indian  for  anything 
he  does  to  a  white  man,  was  a  frontier  proverb,  not  without  some 
shade  of  justice. 

Tiie  following  from  J.  M.  Peck's  Gazeteer,  of  Illinois,  is  copied 
as  the  best  known  authority,  to  show  what  Chicago  was  at  that 
time.  No  official  census  had  then  been  taken,  and  his  statement  as 
to  the  population  is  an  estimate  too  high  in  the  opinion  of 
old  settlers.  Mr.  Williams'  estimate  for  the  year  before  was  200, 
it  will  be  remembered. 

"GAZETTEER  OF  ILLINOIS." 
Published  btj  R.  Goud;/,  Jacksonrille,  J834. 

Chicago,  the  seat  of  justice  for  Cook  county,  is  situated  on  a  river  or  bay  of 
the  same  name,  at  the  junction  of  north  and  south  branches,  and  from  one-half 
mile  to  a  mile  from  Lake  Michigan. 

The  town  is  beautifully  situated  on  level  ground,  but  sufficiently  elevated 
above  the  highest  floods,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  rivev.  It  contains  three 
houses  for  public  worship,  an  academy,  an  infant  and  other  schools,  twenty-five 
or  thirty-five  stores,  many  of  them  doing  large  business,  several  taverns,  meulian- 
ics  of  various  kinds,  a  printing  office  which  publishes  the  "  Chicago  Democrnt,'' 
and  ten  or  twelve  hundred  inhabitants. 

Its  growth,  even  for  western  towns,  has  been  unusually  rapid,  as  two  years 
since  it  contained  five  stores  and  250  inhabitants. 

The  United  States  government  is  cunstrncting  a  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago,  by  cutting  a  wide  and  deep  channel  through  a  sand-bar  at  its  mouth, 
and  cojistructing  piers  to  extend  into  the  lake,  beyond  the  action  of  the  waves 
upon  the  bar.  $25,000.00  were  expended  last  year  for  this  purpose,  and  the 
present  Congress  has  appropriated  an  additional  sura  of  $:>2,8U1,  which,  added 
to  the  previous  appropriation,  makes  the  sum  of  the  original  estimate. 

AV'hen  this  work  is  completed,  the  Chicago  will  form  one  of  the  best  harbors 
for  steamboats,  schooners,  and  other  craft  in  all  the  lake  regions.  Steamboats 
and  schooners  will  pass  along  a  deep  natural  canal  through  the  center  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  town,  with  the  greatest  convenience. 

These  facilities,  the  natural  position  of  the  place,  the  entei-prise  and  capital 
that  will  concenti-ate  here  with  favorable  prospects  for  health,  must  soon  make 
this  place  the  emporium  of  trade  and  business  for  all  the  northern  country. 

Back  of  the  town  towards  the  Desl'laines  river,  is  a  fertile  prairie,  and  for 
the  first  three  or  four  miles  elevated  and  dry. 

Along  the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago,  and  the  lake  shore  are  extensive 
bodies  of  tine  timber.  White  pine  in  small  quantities  is  obtained  on  the  Cala- 
mic,  at  the  south  end  of  the  lake  15  miles  distant.  Large  quantities  exist  in  the 
regions  towards  Green  Hay.  from  which  lumber  in  any  quantities  is  obtained 
and  conveyed  by  shipping  to  Chicago.  Yt'llow  poplar  beards  and  planks  are 
bi ought  across  the  lake  irom  the  St.  Joseph's  river. 

The  mail,  in  po-^t-coaches  from  Detroit,  arrives  here  semi-weekly,  and  departs 
for  Galena,  ftr  Springfield.  Alton  and  St.  Louis,  and  for  Danville  and  Vin- 
cennes. 

The  United  States  government  owns  a  strip  of  elevated  ground  between  the 
town  and  lake,  about  half  a  mile  in  width,  on  which  Fort  Dearborn  and  the 
light-houses  are  situated.  Here  are  stationed  aboi;*^  IdO  United  States  troops, 
including  officers,  as  a  check  upon  the  Indians  in  the  adjacent  territory.  As 
the  title  to  the  Indian  lands  in  the  northern  part  of  Illinois  and  the  adjoining 
territory,  as  far  as  Green  Bay,  is  extinguished  by  the  tr.  aty  of  Septembrr.  18  '■",, 
and  the  Indians  are  to  be  removed  west  of  the  Mississippi,  this  garrison  will 
soon  be  broken  up,  and  the  town  to  be  extended  to  the  lake  shore. 


432  First    Wharfing  Lease. 

Such  was  the  eagerness  to  obtain  propr-rtj'  in  this  j'lace,  that  the  school  sec- 
tion afl.jnoent  to  the  town  plat,  after  reserving'  twelve  iicres,  was  sold  in  smalf 
lots  last  Oc-toljiT,  for  $ii8,705.  The  money  was  loaned  out  at  10  and  12  percent, 
interest,  and  tiie  avails  applied  to  the  support  of  schools  in  the  town.  Chicago 
is  situated  on  section  nine,  township  thirty-nine  north,  in  range  fourteen,  east 
of  the  third  principal  meridian. 

Chicago,  the  stream  or  bay  on  which  the  town  of  Chicago  is  situated.  It  is 
made  by  North  and  South  branches,  which  form  a  junction  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  tjjwn,  about  three  fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  lake.  The  Chicago  resem- 
bles a  vast  canal,  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  yards  wide,  and  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  feet  deep.  Northerly  and  easterly  winds  throw  the  cool  waters  o/ 
the  lake  into  this  channel,  and  raise  it  about  t;hree  feet. 

North  Branch,  which  is  the  largest,  rises  a  short  distance  above  the  boundary 
line,  and  near  the  lake,  and  runs  parallel  with  the  lake  shore  a  southerly  course, 
and  is  navigable  for  small  boats.  Its  banks  are  well  timbered  and  the  land, 
fertile. 

South  Branch  rises  in  an  opposite  direction  in  the  prairies  towards  the  Saga- 
naskee  swamp,  runs  a  northern  direction  about  twenty  miles,  and  forms  a  junc- 
tion with  the  North  branch  in  the  town  of  Chicago.  The  timber  is  rather  scarce 
on  the  South  branch." 

The  following  gentlemen  were  trustees  of  the  town  of  Chicago  in  1835,  as 
appears  from  the  lease  of  a  wharfing  lot  50x41)  feet  on  the  river,  immediately 
west  of  Claik  -treet  bridse.  Hiram  Huguniii.  George  W.  Dole.  Samuel  Jack- 
son. Kli.  B.  Williams.  Francis  C.  Sherman,  .lames  Kinzie,  Alexander  Lloyd. 
Walter  Kimball  and  Bryan  Kmg,  trustees,  leased  said  lot  to  L.  Harmon,  H.  G. 
liooinis  and  D.  Harmon.  The  terms  of  the  lease  were  $50  ).00  cash  down,  and' 
$1,50<*.00  payaMe  in  equal  installments  of  one,  two  and  three  years,  with  hiterest 
at  six  per  cent,  per  annum.  After  which  the  losses  were  to  pay  an  annual  rental 
of  one  barley  corn,  on  the  2ud  day  of  November.  These  were  the  terms  on  whicb 
the  wharfing  lots  were  first  leased,  but  subsequiMitly  they  were  jnodifiud  to  suit  a 
more  modern  style  of  business,  when  the  payment  of  the  annual  barley  corn,  (a 
form  inherited  from  old  English  usages)  was  no  longer  demanded.  One  of  these 
old  leases  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  G.  V.  Rumsey. 

The  same  year  a  statement  appears  in  the  Democrat  of  November  25th,  esti- 
mating the  population  of  Chicago  at  ;)265,  inhabitants.  This  may  lie  set  down 
as  the  first  year  o!  that  speculative  excitement  for  which  Chicago  has  ever  since 
been  remarkable.  The  receipts  at  the  land  office  wliich  was  opened  this  year, 
exceeded  half  a  million  dollai's  for  the  first  six  months. 

The  following  has  been  copied  from  Prof.  E.  Colbert's  Histor- 
ical notes  of  Chicago,  which  have  been  coni])iled  with  his  accus- 
tomed care,  and  are  here  inserted  by  perniisijion  trom  him: 

"  During  the  summer  of  1883  not  less  than  160  frame  houses  were  erected,  and 
the  number  of  stores  was  increased  from  five  or  six  to  25.  Among  the  new  build- 
ings was  the  Green  Tree  Tavern,  by  J.  H.  Kinzie,  which  was  the  first  structure 
ever  erected  in  the  place  for  that  puipose;  its  predecessors  were  simply  pri- 
vate residences,  thrown  open  to  tlie  pnblic  for  a  consideration. 

The  year  1884  witnessed  theestabli.fhmentof  closer  commercial  relations  with; 
other  points  east  and  west.  The  second  week  in  April  a  schooner  arrived  from 
St.  Joseph,  and  two  cleared  for  the  same  port.  On  the  30th  of  tlie  same  nionth 
the  corporation  organ  aimounced  that  eniigrati<m  had  fairly  set  in.  a-i  more  than 
a  hundred  persons  had  arrived  by  boat  and  otherwise  during  the  preceding  t-n 
days.  On  the  4th  of  June  the  Democrat  announced  that  arrangements  had 
been  ni&de  by  the  proprietors  of  the  steamboats  on  Lake  Erie,  whereby  Chicago 
would  be  visited  by  a  steamboat  once  a  week  till  the  25th  of  August.  On  Satur- 
day, July  nth,  the  schooner  lllinoi.i,  the  firer  large  vess**!  tha^  ever  entered  th© 
river,  sailed  into  the  harlwr  amid  great  nccUniatiors,  the  sand  Having  been 
washed  away  by  the  freshet  of  the  spring  previous.  In  its  issue  of  September 
3<1,  the  paper  stated  that  150  vessels  nod  discharged  thoir  cargoes  at  the  port  of 


ijj  ^-^ 


f 


'J: 


Chicago  in  1835.  41^3 

Chicago  since  the  20th  of  April  proeedingr.  Tho  lotal  rmuiber  of  votes  polU'd  in 
the  whole  of  Cook  county  this  year  was  528.  The  poll-list  of  Chicago  had  in- 
creased to  111,  out  of  a  popu  ation  of  4u0,  bt^sides  'JOU  soldiers  in  the  tort.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  not  less  than  \o  of  the  111  were  candidates  for  office  at  the 
August  election. 

In  the  spring  of  1834,  a  stage  communieatiou  was  opened  up  between  Chicago 
and  the  country  to  the  westward,  by  means  cif  J.  T.  Temple's  line  for  St.  Louis. 
The  route  to  Ottawa  was  piloted  out  by  John  D.  Caton,  who  had  previously  been 
over  the  unmarked  road  on  horseback.  A  bitter  storm  sprung  up,  and  the 
driver  was  obliged  to  resign  his  post;  he  died  afterward  from  that  <Uiy"s 
exposure  to  the  ('old.  Mr.  Caton,  afterward  Chief  Justice  of  the  ffuprmie  ('mu-t 
of  the  State,  took  thi^  stage  through  to  Ottawa,  where  a  lietter  system  of  roads 
b|egan,  the  first  settlement  of  the  State  having  been  from  the  southward,  ;v3 
a  ready  stated. 

A  lai-ge  black  bear  was  seen  on  tho  morning  of  Octobm-  fith,  in  a  strip  of  tim- 
ber on  the  corner  of  Market  and  Jackson  streets,  almost  t'xactly  on  the  -pot 
where  the  aruioiy  was  afttn-ward  built.  He  was  shot:  then  tln'  citizens  got  up  a 
grand  wolf  hunt  in  the  same  neigliborhuod,  and  killfd  not  loss  than  tbrty  of 
those  animals  before  nightfall.  It  was  just  at  this  point,  thirty-seven  years 
alter,  rdmost  to  a  day,  that  the  ilames  leaped  acro-s  the  river  from  the  West 
Division,  and  thence  swept  northward  to  the  limits  of  the  city. 

In  this  year  a  draw- bridge  was  built  across  the  river  at  Dearborn  street; 
active  measures  were  taken  to  prev^'ut  the  spread  of  the  cholera,  and  a  commit- 
tee was  authorized  to  build  a  cholera  hospital  outside  the  town  if  the  disease 
should  make  it  appearanc'':  the  first  Sunday  licpior  l.iw  was  passed  (September 
1st);  the  large  sum  of  forty  dollars  was  paid  for  repairing  bridges;  and  the  town 
was  divided  into  four  wards.  l>y  an  ordinanre  iutemieil  to  [irevent  Hres.  Prior 
to  this  year  all  the  stores  were  located  on  i<outli  Water  street — indeed.  Lake 
street,  and  all  tiie  streets  southward  of  it,  only  existed  en  piper.  In  the  autumn 
of  18:14.  Thomas  Church  erected  a  store  on  Lake  street,  which  was  soon  the 
busiest  in  the  whole  town.  The  packing  statistics  of  the  year  sin iw  that  Mr. 
Clybournt^  packed  (iOO  cattle,  and  more  than:!,(tOn  hogs:  while  Messrs.  Newberry 
&  Dole  slaughtered  some  400  cattle  and  l,4Ui!  Jiogs  in  a  packing  house  of  (heir 
own,  recently  built  on  the  south  branch.  The  same  year  Gurdoii  S.  Hubbard 
packed  5,000  hogs,  on  the  corner  of  Lake  and  La'-'alle  streets. 

The  first  water  works  of  the  future  city  was  esta  I  dished  aliout  this  time,  the 
sum  of  §05.50  being  paid  fo.'  the  digging,  stoniug,  and  stone  of  a  well,  in  Kinzie's 
addition,  on  the  north  side. 

In  18:^5  the  hotel  accommodations  of  the  year  increased  in  proportion  to  the 
population.  Besides  the  (ji-een  Tree  Hotel,  on  th<'  corner  of  Lake  and  Canal 
streets,  there  were  now  three  others.  The  Tremunt  House  had  bei'u  erected  a 
year  previously,  on  the  northwest  corner  of  L  d<e  and  L)e;irliorn,  and  the  loungers 
of  that  day  used  to  stmid  on  its  steps  and  shoot  the  ducks  on  thi;  river,  or  on  the 
slough  tnat  lay  before  the  door.  StaiT  Foot  was  th(;  first  landlord,  but  he 
speedily  gave  way  to  Ira  Couch,  under  whose  management  the  Treinont  soon 
became  head-quarters  for  the  travelers  and  speculators  wnth  which  the  town 
abounded.  It  was  bunied  down  in  18:'.*),  in  the  second  fire  that  had  visited  the 
place,  the  fir.st  having  occurred  in  18)4.  The  Graves  (log)  tavern  stood  nearly 
opposite  the  Tromont,  and  the  Sauanash  Hotel  offered  accommodations  for  man 
and  beast,  on  the  corner  of  Market  and  Lake  streets,  the  spot  where  Lincoln 
was  nominated  in  ISfiO  for  (he  presidencj'.  At  that  date  the  grove  of  timber 
along  the  east  side  of  the  south  branch  was  still  undisturbed,  the  north  division 
was  thickly  studded  with  trees,  a  few  pines  stood  on  the  lake  shore  south  of  the 
harbor,  the  timber  being  thickest  near  the  river,  and  a  great  pine  tree  stood  n(;ar 
the  foot  of  Randolph  street. 

By  an  act  of  the  Ley:islature,  approved  February  11,  1853,  rdl  the  land  east  of 
State  Rtreet,  from  Twelfth  stretit  to  Chicago  avenue,  was  included  within  the 
town  lines;  except  that  it  was  provided  thut  the  Fort  Di.'arboni  resei  vation,  lying 
between  Madison  street  and  the  river,  should  not  belong  to  tho  town  till  vacatei! 
by  the  United  States. 


434  Seal  i>f  C/iieayo. 

Tn  this  yoar  (Juno)  an  iittcinpt  was  iiiikIo  to  borrow  money  on  tlio  credit  of  the 
town.  'I'iie  treasurer  was  authorizeil  to  borrow  $2,000,  at  not  more  than  ten  per 
cent,  interest,  and  payable  in  twelve  months.  He  resigned  rather  than  face  t.ie 
novel  i-espoiisibility.  and  the  street  commissioner  followed  suit. 

Tn  this  year  thi>  Chicauo  Aiiurican  entered  the  field  to  compete  with  the  Detno- 
ct'iit  lor  tlio  advertisiiifr  i>atro)ia<^e  of  tln>  town  and  iis  citizens. 

Two  additional  buildiii<rs  were  placed  in  the  court  house  square  in  18'3o — a 
small  brii-k  edifice  on  the  northeast  corner,  for  th(»  use  of  the  county  officers  and 
the  safe  keeping  of  the  records,  and  an  engint'-li(ius(>.  costing  $220.  the  latter 
not  l)"ius  finished  till  the  following  year.  The  first  fire  engine  was  bought 
December  lOfh,  of  Mcssi-s.  Hubbard  and  Co.,  for  the  sum  of  $S9f5.88,  and  a 
second  ordered.  The.  first  fire-engine  company  was  organized  two  days  after- 
wards. 

On  the  14th  of  November  the  Board  of  Town  Trustees  resolved  to  sell  the 
leases  of  the  wharfing  privileges  in  the  town  for  the  term  of  '.)!)9  years,  bir  iing 
th(^  lioard  to  dredge  tlie  river  to  tlie  depfcli  often  feet  at  least,  within  four  years 
from  the  sale,  ami  the  lessees  of  the  privileges  being  bound  to  erect  good  docks. 
five  feet  wide  and  three  feet  above  the  water,  within  two  years  from  the  elate  of 
the  lease,  'i  he  sale  of  those  immensely  valuable  privileges  took  place  on  the 
2()th  of  November.  1885,  at  the  store  ot  Messrs.  Jones,  King  iV'  <'o.,  and  it  may 
be  i!.. cresting  to  rememVier  now  the  "minimum  prices  "'  at  wlrch  owners  of  lots 
fronting  the  river  liad  the  privilege  of  buying.  On  ?outh  Water  street  the  price 
was  $25  per  front  foot;  on  North  Water  street,  $1S.75  per  front  foot;  on  West 
"Water  street  $18  per  front  foot.  The  men  who  got  rich  in  buying  such  prop- 
erty, at  such  prici^s,  deserve  no  credit  for  s])eculative  ability.  Uut  t!ie  board,  on 
the  18th  of  November.  18'!5,  ort'ered  still  further  assistance  in  their  new  school  of 
"  affluence  made  easy."  They  then  resolved  that  they  would  not  be  bound  to 
dredge  the  river,  in  making  leases  on  North  Water  street,  consequently  they 
lowered  the  minimum  figure  to  $  15  [icr  front  foot,  in  part,  and  $"^.50  per  front  foot 
on  the  renuiinder  of  the  line.  To  aid  in  paying  for  leases  at  this  rate,  the  board 
took  secured  notes  for  three  and  six  months,  for  the  first  payment  of  one  t^uar- 
ter  of  the  price,  and  gave  three  years  in  which  to  pay  oft"  the  balance.  The  sale 
was  three  times  postponed,  and  while  waiting  for  a  sale  all  the  picked  lots 
seemed  to  have  been  taken  at  a  minimum  price.  When  the  vendue  did  take 
place,  only  six  lots  remained  to  be  sold,  and  but  one  of  these  found  a  purchaser, 
at  $20  per  front  foot.  The  city  will  have  the  right  to  resume  possession  of  these 
valuable  lots  on  the  26th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  28: >4.  The  "privileges  "  thus 
thrown  away  by  a  lot  of  men  who  ought  to  have  known  better,  sul)sequentiy 
became  matter  of  much  anxious  legislation  on  the  part  of  the  board,  and  with 
the  sale  of  the  magnificent  school  lands,  made  October  21,  18;!8,  on  a  petition 
signed  by  twenty-thi-ee  citizens,  form  the  two  great  sores  in  the  history  of  the 
«iity.  Both  were  ht 'rally  "sold  for  a  mere  song."  The  school-lands,  sold  for 
$;V8.8G5,  have  since  been  worth  nearly  fifty  millions. 

The  official  seal  was  adop*"d  in  November.  is:i5 — a  spread-eagle  having  three 
arrows  in  his  claws,  and  the  words  "United  8tates  of  America"  surrounding 
the  same." 

Amoiiii;'  other  ambitions  developed  in  Chicago  as  a  town,  was 
ship-building,  and  on  the  18th  of  May,  ISIHi,  the  sloop  Clarissa 
slid  from  her  stocks  into  the  river,  amidst  the  hnzzas  of  a  large 
assemblagre  gathered  there  to  celebrate  the  event.  But  the  ij^reat 
attraction  of  the  year  was  the  celebration  of  turning  the  first  sod 
for  the  canal  excavation,  which  is  told  as  follows  by  Mr.  John  L. 
Wilson,  who  was  an  eye  witness: 

"The  beginning  of  the  canal  was  celebrated  July  4th,  1836,  by 
nearly  the  whole  village  of  Chicago  goincr  ud  to  Bridgeport 
on  the  small  steamer  George  W.  i-'oic^  towing  two  sciiooners. 


Chicago  in  1830.  435 

Doctor  AVin.  B.  Egan  delivered  the  addret^s  on  tliis  most  auspicious 
€vent,  and  the  Hon.  Tlieo]>]iilus  W.  Siiiitli  began  the  "ditch"' 
by  throwing  out  the  iirst  shovel  full  of  earth.  The  celebration 
■of  "the  day  we  celebrate"  then  began,  and  a  right  joyous  one 
it  was,  as  the  Canal  Bill  had  struggled  long  in  its  passage  through 
the  Legislature,  and  the  ])r<ibabilitv  of  ever  having  a  raili'oad  to 
or  from  Chicn<ro  was  hardlv  dreamed  of  On  arranijiiii;  and 
starting  the  "flotilla''  homeward  bound,  a  squad  of  men  on  the 
banks  of  the  iiarrow  rivei-,  without  any  cause,  began  throwing 
stones  into  the  steamer,  breaking  the  cabin  windows,  and  injur- 
ing one  or  two  ladies,  and  keeping  up  the  fusilade  until  a  de- 
tachment  of  a  dozen  or  more  "  old  settlers  "  jumped  ashore, 
(oi'  rather  into  the  shallow  water),  and  charge<l  among  them. 
Those  that  I  now  remember  were  John  II.  and  liobert  A.  Kiuzie, 
Stephen  F.  Gale,  John  and  Richard  L.  Wilson,  Henry  G.  Hub- 
bard, Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  Sr.,  James  B.  Campbell,  Ashvel  Steele, 
S.  B.  Col.)b,  Mark  Beaubien  and  otliers.  There  were  none  of  the 
enemy  standiiuj  as  soon  as  they  could  be  i-eached.  The  weapons 
used  were  only  those  brought  into  action  in  the  '  manly  .'irt  of 
self-defense,'  t)ut  thev  proved  exceedini;lv  efficient.  And  thus 
■ended  the  \glorious  ith  '  of  July,  1830."'*' 

The  year  183()  closes  the  career  of  Oiicago  as  a  town,  the 
next  year  1)eing  her  first  as  a  city.  The  followino'  is  her  com- 
mercial  record  till  that  time: 

YEAR.  NO.  VKSSKI.S  AKUIVKD.  TONNAGE. 

1833 4 700 

1834 1 70 5,000 

1835 250 22,500 

1830 450 e(»,000 

Tlie  above  list  of  a,rrivals  of  ves.«els,  ospo'.-ially  in  18-')4.  consisted  liirjjely  of 
three  small  schooners  running  to  antl  from  St.  Joseph  to  carry  passengers  and 
flour.  The  aa-rivals.  previous  to  18:x>,  consisted  tirst  of  the  schooner  'J'raoy, 
which  brought  the  otficers  to  build  the  fort  in  l^O:!,  after  which  an  annual  arrival 
of  supplies  from  the  fort  came,  during  the  time  there  was  a  garrison  at  the 
fort.  The  steamboat  William  Penn  was  used  for  this  purpose  in  lSo"2,  8 
and  4,  bringing  supplies  to  Ft.  Gratiot,  Macinac,  and  Ft.  Howard  at  the  same 
time.  Besides  these  channels  of  communication  with  the  East,  was  a  wagon 
track  around  the  hea<l  of  the  lake,  thence  one  branch  running  to  Detroit,  and 
another  to  Fort  Wayne.  This  road  ran  along  the  beach,  crossing  the  Calumet 
by  means  of  a  ferry  which  had  been  established  .Tune  7th,  1830,  by  the  county 
commissioners  of  Peoria  county  granting  to  Rev.  Wm.  Lee  the  riglit  to  keep  the 
feny,  with  a  stipnlato'l  bill  of  charges  for  ferriage,  as  follows:  VlYi  cents  for  a 
foot  passenger;  25  cents  for  a  man  and  horse:  ::i7,^o  cents  for  a  wagon  and  one 
horse;  75  cents  for  a  wagon  and  two  horses,  and  $1.1)0  for  a  wagon  and  four 
horses. 

*  Mr.  Wilson's  recent  contributions  to  the  Chicago  press  have  teemed  with 
reminiscences  of  the  early  day  here  which  i>leasantly  freshen  the  memories  of 
■early  Chicago  in  the  minds  of  many  thousands  of  its  citizens. 


CHICAGO  CHARTERED  AS  A  CITY. 


'  FIRST   MAYOR    ELECTED. 

The  year  188(i  liad  been  one  of  remarkable  prosperity  to  tlieb't- 
tle  village  of  Chicago.  Its  po])u]ation  had  grown  to  the  astonish- 
ing number  of  38!^0  (as  estimated).  I'rom  a  l)eginning  of  about 
200  persons  in  183;').  Work  on  the  canal  had  actually  been 
begun  and  the  harbor  was  in  process  of  improvement,  at 
the  expense  of  the  general  government.  Land  sjiecula- 
tors  were  rapidly  buying  up  the  lauds,  and  that  system  of 
real  estate  speculation,  which  has  since  this  period  presented 
such  fascinations  to  the  speculative  capitalists  of  the  country, 
was  now  inangurated.  Under  these  auspicious  begiimings,  on 
the  2f)th  of  October  the  town  board  took  the  necessary  steps 
to  take  upo]i  themselves  the  fv)rms  of  a  city.  The  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  invited  the  inhabitujits  of  each  of  the  three 
districts  of  Nvhich  the  town  was  composed,  to  select  delegates  to 
meet  the  board,  to  confer  together  on  the  expediency  of  apply- 
insr  to  the  leo-islature  for  a  citv  ehai-ter.  The  meetinc;  had  itlace 
on  the  25th  ol  ^Aovember.  and  resulted  in  the  appointment,  by 
Eli  B.  Williams,  the  President  of  tlie  board,  of  five  delegates  to 
draw  up  the  charter  in  form  for  ])resentatiiMi.  Their  names 
were  Ebenezer  Peck.  J.  D.  Caton,  T.  W.  iSmith,  Wm.  B.  Ogdeu, 
and  K^athan  H.  BoUes.  On  December  iHh,  this  committee, 
through  Mr.  Peck,  presented  their  charter  to  the  board,  and  aftt'i- 
some  amendments  it  was  adopted,  and  on  the  fourth  of  March, 
the  next  year,  1837,  the  legislature  of  Illinois  passed  the  bill 
approviiig  the  charter,  and  Chicago  took  upon  herself  the  forms 
of  a  city.  The  next  move  was  to  choose  a  mayor.  Tlie  material 
for  an  able  one  was  not  wanting,  l)ut  from  its  very  excess  the 
difficulty  in  making  a  choice  was  increased.  Happily  there 
were  no  spoils  at  state  and  no  rings  to  covet  them. 


Charter  Election.  437 

The  issue  was  defined  by  the  two  political  ])arties  which 
then  divided  the  coutitiy  on  political  economy.  The  whig  party 
represented  one  and  the  Democratic  party  the  other.  And 
here  it  may  be  pertinent  to  aay  that  the  separate  ]>olicies  of  the 
two  ]>arties  could  not  be  accurately  defined  in  theory  so  as  to  be 
well  understood  at  this  day,  but  practical!}'  the  Whigs  repre- 
sented a  policy  which  embraced  a  liberal  system  of  banking,  pro- 
tective taritis,  and  an  extensive  system  of  public  works,  while 
the  Democrats  did  not  oppose  this  entirely,  but  professed  to 
•xnard  against  excesses  in  their  propagation.  The  most  of  them 
went  for  a  met:ilic  currency  only,  or  ])aper  convertible  at  the 
Avill  of  the  holder.  John  H.  Iviiizie  was  the  AVhig  candidate  for 
mayor,  and  AV:n.  B.  Ogdcn  the  Democratic.  Savs  Hon. 
.I<)hn  AVentworth:  "  Both  were  members  of  the  old  St.  James 
Episcopal  Cluuvh,  both  men  of  wealth  for  tiiat  time,  and 
there  was  nothing  in  the  character  of  either  of  the  !uen  to  give 
either  one  any  advantage  over  the  other.  It  was  a  fair  stand-up 
fight  between  the  Whigs  and  Democrats.  Men  of  each  political 
jiarty  wanted  the  city  government  to  stand  under  its  peculiar  aus- 
])ices."  The  contest  was  sharp  and  spirited,  and  grea!"  care  was 
taken  to  provide  against  illegal  v^oting.  Young  Wentworth  was 
K-hallenged  on  the  grountlsof  his  youth,  and  was  sworn  before  be- 
ing allowed  to  vote — a  suspicion  of  the  truth  of  which  charge, 
lie  humorously  says,  he  has  since  outgrown. 

Mr.  Ogden  received  4(>!)  votes  and  Mr.  Kinzie  237,  showing  a 
large  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago  to  be  in  favor  of  the 
<lemocratic  policy  of  the  country,  at  which  time,  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  we  were  almost  at  a  loss  for  any  very  vital  issue. 
The  total  vote  of  the  south  division  was  408,  the  north  204,  and 
the  west  97,  and  of  the  whole  city  709. 


ENLAFJOEMENT  OF  CHICAGO  BY  WARDS  AND  CITY  LIMITS. 

BV   JOirX   A.    MOODY,   CHIK.K  CLEKK    IN   CITY   CLEKK's   OKBUCE. 

In  1835,  John  II.  Kinzie,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  E ben ezer  Good- 
rich, John  K.  Ijoyerand  John  S.  C.  llogan  were  oonntituted  by 
the  legislature  of  Illinois  a  bo<ly  ]iolitic  and  corporate  to  be 
known  by  the  n-.me  of  the  "  Trustees  of  the  Town  of  Chicago." 
The  jurisdicti'/ii  of  the  town  extended  overall  that  district  con- 
tained in  sections  nine  and  sixteen,  north  and  south  fractional 
section  ten  and  fractional  section  fitteen,  in  townshij)  39,  X.  R. 
14  E.  of  the  3rd  P.  M.,  except  that  jutrtion  of  fractional  section 
ten  occupied  by  the  United  States,  for  military  purj>oses.  The 
act  creating  the  'own  j)n»vided  that  the  corporate  powers  and 


438  Wanh—City  Limits.  ' 

duties  shonUl  be  vested  in  a  board  of  nine  trustees,  after  the  first 
Monday  of  June,  A.  D.  18B5,  on  whicli  dato  the  term  of  office  uf 
the  above  named  gentlemen  expired.  In  the  year  following,  the 
system  of  water  works  of  Chicago  was  instituted  by  the  act  in- 
corporating the  Chicago  Hydraulic  Coin})any. 

Two  years  after  the  incoruoration  of  the  town,  on  the  4th  <)f 
March,  1837,  the  legislature  enacted  that  "the  district  of  coun- 
try known  as  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section, 
thirty-three,  fractional  section  thirty-four,  the  east  fom-th  part  of 
sections  six,  seven,  eighteen  and  nineteen,  all  in  township  forty;. 
also  fractional  section  three,  sections  four,  five,  eight,  nine,  and. 
fractional  section  ten.  excepting  the  southwest  fractional  quarter  <  >f 
said  section  ten,  occupied  as  a  military  post,  until  the  same  shall' 
become  private  property,  fractional  section  fifteen,  sections  six- 
teen, seventeen,  twenty,  twenty-one,  and  fractional  section  twenty- 
two,  all  in  township  thirty-nine,  range  fourteen,  east  of  the  third 
P.  M. ;  being  in  the  county  of  Cook  and  State  of  Illinois,  should 
be  known  as  the  citv  of  Chicairo." 

It  is  im])ossible  to  give  the  boundaries  above  fixed  by  streets. 
There  is  a  manifest  error  in  the  copy  of  the  act  which  is  on  file 
in  the  office  of  the  city  clerk.  The  nuips  show  that  the  sections 
six,  seven,  eighteen  and  nineteen,  above  mentioned,  are  in  town- 
ship thirty-nine  instead  of  forty. 

The  territory  was  divided  into  six  wards;  of  which  the  1st  and 
2d  were  in  the  south,  the  3d  and  4th  in  the  west,  and  the  5th 
and  f)th  in  the  north  divisions,  respectively.  The  government 
was  vested  in  the  mayor  and  twelve  aldermen — two  aldermen 
from  each  ward,  except  the  third  and  fifth  wards,  which  were  en- 
titled to  but  one  alderman  each  until  the  annual  election  for  the 
year  1839. 

By  the  act  of  March  4,  1837,  the  school  system  of  Chicago  was 
first  established;  and  In'  an  act  ]»assed  !March  1,  Is:  it,  additional 
powers  were  granted  the  common  council  for  establishing  and 
nuiintaining  schools. 

Within  ten  years  from  its  incorjioration,  the  new  city  felt  that 
it  did  not  contain  territory  enough,  ami  that  its  original  charter 
was  insufficient  for  its  proper  government.  On  Feb.  It),  1847,  a 
supplementary  act  was  passed  extending  the  Hunts  so  as  to  in- 
clude all  the  territory  l)ounded  as  follows: 

Beginning  at  the  intersection  of  22d  street  with  the  lake  shore, 
thence  west  to  Western  avenue,  thence  north  to  North  avenue,, 
thence  eact  to  Sedgwick  street,  thence  north  to  Fnllerton  avenue, 
thence  east  to  the  lake,  thence  southward  on  the  lake  shore  to  the- 
place  of  beginning. 

The  city  was  also  divided  into  nine  wards  of  which  the  1st,  2d» 


'  ^  Wards— C It >j  Limits.  439 

3rd  and  4tli  were  in  the  sontli  division,  the  5th  and  fJtli  in  the 
west,  and  tlie  7th,  8th  and  9th  in  the  north. 

Tiie  city  census  taken  in  that  year  i?howed  a  pojnilation  of 
16,859  persons.  The  valuation  of  the  real  and  personal  estate 
was,  $5,849,170;  the  amount  of  revenue  raised  by  taxation 
$18,159,01,  and  the  lioating  liabilities  $13,179,89. 

In  1851,  the  various  acts  affecting  the  city  werH  reduced  into 
one  act,  and  additional  powers  were  granted,  but  the  bounda- 
ries of  the  city  were  not  changed. 

In  1853,  the  city  wi.s  by  act  of  the  general  assembly  divided  into 
the  divisions  called  n<,  th.  south  and  west,  the  limits  were  also  ex- 
tended so  as  to  inchuiif'  within  the  citv  all  of  sections  27,  28,  29 
and  30,  T.  39,  N.  K.  14  E.,  als..  those  parts  of  31  and  32  T.  40,  R. 
14,  lying  east  of  the  north  branch,  and  also  the  W.i  of  Sec.  33, 
40,  14. 

This  extension  made  31st  street  the  southern  boundary.  Western 
avenue  from  31st  street  to  Xorth  avenue  and  the  north  branch 
from  North  avenue  to  FuUerton  avenue  the  western  Ixuindaries, 
and  Xorth  avenue  and  Fullerton  avenue  the  northern  boumlaries. 

The  jurisdiction  of  the  city  was  also  extended  over  so  much  of 
tlie  shore  and  bed  of  the  lake  as  lie  within  one  mile  east  of  frac- 
tional section  27. 

The  number  of  the  wards  was  not  chaniied.  the  added  territory 
being  aimexed  to  Lhe  1st,  2d,  3rd,  4th,  5th  and  7th  wards. 

The  city  census  taken  in  1S53,  showed  a  population  of  0O.ti52. 
The  vahuition  was  $16,811,8;U.OO,  and  the  bonded  debt,  $189.(;70, 

In  1855  the  sewerajje  system  of  Chicago  was  inaujiurated  by 
the  creation  ot  a  board  of  sewerage  commissioners,  with  such 
powers  and  duties  as  were  deemed  necessary  to  carry  into  eifect  its 
objects. 

The  amended  city  charter,  approved  Feb.  15,  1857,  provided  for 
the  creation  of  an  additional  ward,  the  tenth,  out  of  the  territory 
in  the  West  Division. 

By  the  revised  charter  of  18t53,  the  city  lim  its  were  extended  so  as 
to  include  all  of  township  39,  north  range  14  east  of  the  3rd  P.  M., 
and  all  of  sections  31,  32,  33  and  fractional  section  34, 40, 14,  with 
so  much  of  the  waters  and  bed  of  Lake  Alichigan  as  lie  within 
one  mile  of  the  sliore,  and  east  of  the  territory  aforesaid.  The 
street  boundaries  were  Egan  avenue  (39th  street)  on  the  south, 
Western  avenue  on  the  west  and  Fullerton  avenue  on  the  north. 
The  territory  was  divided  into  sixteen  wards  of  which  the  1st  to 
the  5th  inclusive  were  in  the  south,  the  0th  to  the  12th  inclusive 
in  the  west  and  the  four  remaining  in  the  north  division.  Again, 
in  1869,  the  general  assembly  extended  the  city  limits  on  the 
west  so  as  to  include  within  it  the  territory  lying  north  of  the  II- 


440  :•  ;  •     Warch—Citf/  Limits. 

linois  &  Miclugau  Canal,  east  of  Crawford  avenue  and  south  of 
Xortli  avenue.  Tlie  same  act  divided  the  city  into  twenty  wards, 
of  which  six  were  located  in  the  South  Division,  nine  in  the  West 
Division  and  live  in  the  Korth  Division.  The  city  then  contain- 
ed an  area  of  at  least  thirt\'-five  square  miles  with  a  population 
of  :>06,t505  per^ons,  an  assessed  valuation  of  $275,986,550.00  and 
a  bonded  indel»tedness  of  over  $11,000,000.00. 

In  1S70  it  levied  a  tax  of  |4,139,798.70.  In  1837  the  tax  levy 
was  $5,905.15. 

Since  1869  there  1  'is  been  no  tei-ritory  added  to  the  city. 

In  1875  the  question  whether  the  city  should  reorganize  under 
the  general  incorporation  act.  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
])t-<)ple,  and  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  11,714  for,  to  10,-281 
against. 

Lest  this  vote  may  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the  nuinber  of 
v«^>ters  in  the  city  at  that  time,  I  desire  to  state  here  that  at  the 
last  preceding  general  election  for  mayor,  47,390  votes  were  cast. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  general  incorporation  law,  the 
council  divided  the  city  into  eighteen  wards — hve  in  the  South 
Division,  nine  in  the  West  Division,  and  four  in  the  North  Di- 
vision. 

By  virtue  of  various  amendments  to  the  charter,  the  city  gov- 
ernment was,  at  the  time  of  reorganization,  in  the  hands  of  many 
irresponsible  boards. 

Under  powers  given  by  the  new  incorporation  law,  these  boards 
were  all  abolished,  and  the  departments  governed  by  them  re- 
established on  ordinances  passed  by  the  city  council.  The  ma- 
chinery of  the  city  government  is  now  more  simple  and  less  ex- 
pensive, considering  the  vastly  greater  business  entrusted  to  it, 
than  under  any  of  the  older  charters.  The  mayor  and  aldermen 
practically  control  the  entire  city  government. 

The  t'AX'At'wn  ])er  capita  in  1837  was  about  1.41;  in  1847 about 
1.08;  in  1857  about  6.73;  in  1867  about  12.59;  in  1877  about 
9.83.     The  highest  rate  was  in  1873.  which  was  about  15.27. 


p  1 


•  r 


OFFICIAL  RECORD  OF  FORT  DEARBORN, 

TTAKEN  PROM   THE  F.KCORDS   OF  TllK  WAR   DRPAKTMENT   AT  WASHINGTON,  BT 

HON.    THOS.    B.    BRTAN. 


FORT  DEARBORN,  ILL. 

Situated  at  Chicago,  III.  witihx  a  fkw  yards  of  Lake  Michigan; 
Lat.  41°  r>F  X.;  LoN.  87°  15'  W. 

Post  established  l.y  the  U.  S.  forces  in  1804.  Aug.  15,  1812, 
the  i^arrison,  under  the  cotnniand  of  Captain  I^athan  Heald,  1st 
V.  S.  lufautry,  conipfjsed  of  54  regular  infantry,  12  militia-men, 
and  1  interpreter,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  and  evacuated 
saine  day.  The  Indians  numbered  between  400  and  500,  of 
whom  15  were  reported  killed.  The  killed  of  the  garrison  were 
Ensign  Geo.  Eowan,*  1st  Inf.,  Doctor  J.  V,  VanVoorhis,f  Capt. 
Wells,  interpreter,  24  enlisted  men  U.  S.  Inf.,  and  12  militia- 
men; 2  women  and  12  children  were  also  killed.  The  wounded 
Were  Capt.  NaUian  Heald  and  Mrs.  Heald.  None  others  re- 
ported. The  next  day,  Aug.  iQ.  1812,  it  was  destroyed  by  the 
Indians.  Iie-occu]>ied  about  June,  1816,  Captain  Hezekiah  Brad- 
ley, 3d  Infantry,  commanding.  The  troops  continued  in  occupa- 
tion until  October,  1823.  when  it  was  evacuated,  and  the  post 
left  in  charge  of  the  Indian  Agent,  and  was  ""e-occupied  Oct.  3d, 
1828.  Capt.  Hezekiah  Bradley,  3d  Inf.,  commanded  the  post 
from  June,  1816,  to  May,  1817;  Bvt.  Maj.  D.  Baker,  3d  Inf, 
to  Jnne,  1820;  Capt.  Hezekiah  Bradley,  3d  Inf.,  to  Jan'y,  1821; 
Maj.  Alex.  Cumminirs,  3d  Inf.,  to  Oct.,  1821;  Lt.  Col.  J.  McNeal' 
3d  Inf.,  to  July,  1823;  Capt.  John  Greene,  3d  Inf.,  to  Oct.,  1823. 
Post  not  garrisoned  from  Oct.,  1823,  to  Oct.,  1828. 

*  His  name  is  spelli'd  Ronan  in  Wabun. 

fSitt'lU'd  Voorhees  in  Wabun. 

Atciinliii^'  to  the  above  official  record  the  attack  preceded  the  evacuation. 
This  was  a  mistake,  accordinjr  to  the  account  of  evei-y  eye  witness  who  has 
Written  its  lii<t  iry,  of  whom  tliere  are  several. — Author. 

The  tollo\viii<r  item  is  from  Wm.  Hickijxg,  Esq  : 

"At  this  |in>eiit  ti)ne  there  is  staiulinji-,  frontinpr  on  State.  nenrtheN.  E. 
corner  of  •"'■Id  street,  Avliat  appears  to  be  a  two-story  fnniie  house;  the  body  of 
this  edifice  is  made  of  liesvn  timber  which  formerly  formed  a  part  of  the  otficers' 

Suarters  of  Fort  Dearltorn  (erected  in  IHlti).  Many  years  ago,  the  late  Judge 
[eury  Fuller  removed  this  building  from  its  old  site,  on  the  Fort  reservation,  to 
its  present  locality;  then  modernized  it  by  covering  with  sidir^g  and  a  new  shin- 
gle roof.  In  another  building  erected  by  Judge  Fuller,  No.  872  Michigan  ave- 
nue, may  be  Ibund  an  oaken  window-frame  inserttni  in  the  kitchen  part  of  said 
building:  thi^  venerable  relic  was  also  removed  from  the  "  otficers' quarters" 
of  the  old  Fort,  after  having  done  duty  there  for  some  thirty  years.  It  seems 
that  the  judge  liad  a  gieat  liking  for  these  old  Fort  Dearborn  buildings,  for  he 
removed  a  {)ortiou  of  another  log  building  belonging  to  the  old  Fort,  converting 
the  same  into  a  stable  on  the  rear  of  his  property.  No.  872  Michigan  avenue. 
This  eld  relic  of  the  Fort  he  aft<>rwards  sold,  and  1  understand  the  purchaser 
broke  up  the  old  timbers  for  firewood." 


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La^t  of  Fort  Dearhom.  443^ 

The  following  letter,  from  Mr.  R.  J.  Bennett,  is  inserted  as  the 
most  anthoritiitive  and  best  liistory  of  the  last  years  of  Fort 
Dearborn,  which  has  yet  been  made  public. 


EuFus  Blanciiakd 


Chicago,  May  11,  1880. 


Dear  Sir: — In  reply  tc  yonr  inquiries  concerning  Fort  Dear- 
born, I  am  pleased  to  say  the  little  I  can,  to  give  a  more  definite 
idea  of-Chicago's  oldest  landmark.  The  "  Old  Fort,"  burned  at 
time  of  the  massacre,  belonged  to  an  age  preceding  Chicago, 
while  the  defense,  erected  at  a  later  date  on  the  same  site,  Avas 
known  to  many  still  living,  and  properly  belongs  to  the  Chicago 
that  has  grown  during  the  last  fifty  years,  because  it  stood  till  the 
tide  of  improvements  and  the  demands  of  a  growing  commerce 
crowded  upon  it,  and  until  its  last  remnant  went  down  in  the- 
great  fire  of  1871. 

In  July,  1S36,  my  father  came  to  Chicago,  became  acquainted 
with  it  and  helped  in  laying  the  State  road  from  this  place  to 
Galemi  during  that  summer.  In  March,  1844,  I  came  with  my 
father's  family  from  the  East,  and  spent  my  first  two  weeks  in  this 
State,  in  the  house  of  the  keeper  of  the  Government  light. 
This  house  stood  about  >vhere  the  south  abutment  of  Kush  street 
bridge  now  stands.  So,  from  my  early  association,  I  felt  inter- 
ested in  this  historical  spot.  After  the  great  fire,  business  located 
me  within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  spot  where  the  house  stood  ia 
which  I  first  lived  in  this  State,  and  directly  upon  the  "  site  of 
Fort  Dearborn."  This  close  association  of  my  business  with  a 
spot  so  historical  and  so  closely  allied  to  me  by  the  present  and 
the  past,led  to  the  production  of  two  pictures'* — one  representing 
the  fort  as  it  was  from  ISW  till  after  1850,  and  the  other  as  it 
appeared  after  the  stockade,  and  most  of  the  buildings  had  been 
removed  and  nau£«:ht  but  the  "  Block  House"  of  tlie  fort  and  tho 
light-house  and  light  keeper's  house  remained.  In  the  product- 
ion of  those  pictures,  I  followed  such  sketches  as  could  be  found,, 
after  verification  by  scores  who  had  known  the  fort  at  an  early 
day,  and  had  pronounced  the  material  used  reliable.  In  describ- 
ing the  place,  I  can  do  no  better  than  to  use  the  language  of  Miss- 
Augusta  Meacham,  in  reply  to  my  inquiries  upon  this  subject. 

"  Father  kept  the  Government  light  in- 1842,  '8  and  '4;  t  think 
previous  to  that  for  a  year  or  two,  he  was  superintendent  of  all 

*The  two.  pictures  referred  to  by  Mr.  Bennett  are  both  landscape  drawing* 
of  the  fort,  river,  and  light-house,  not  differing  essentially,  as  far  as  the  block- 
house, officers'  quarters,  etc..  are  concerned,  from  the  view  here  presented^ 
They  are  now  in  possession  of  Mr.  Hoyt. — Author. 


444  Fort  Dcarhorn. 

lights  on  Lake  Michigan.  The  light-house  was  a  stone  structure, 
kept  wliite  by  lime  wash.  The  dwelling  liouse  stood  perhaps 
seventy-five  feet  east  and  north  of  the  lighthouse.  The  old  fort 
was  east  and  just  across  a  rather  narrow  street  or  road  from  it. 
(This  corresponds  about  to  our  present  River  street.)  It  was  west 
of  Michigan  avenue;  at  that  time,  the  avenue  did  not  come  to 
the  river,  but  came  to  an  end  just  south  of  the  fort." 

The  fort  stood  on  a  sand  mound,  some  twentv  feet  above  the 
river,  and  occupied  a  tract  bounded  by  a  line  running  along  about 
Eiver  street  to  near  the  center  of  tlie  river  as  it  now  is,  and  east 
say  one  hundred  and  tifty  feet  east  of  Michigan  avenue  to  the 
lake  beach,  thence  south,  say  a  like  distance,  south  of  the  present 
intersection  of  Michigan  avenue  and  River  street,  thence  west  to 
the  place  of  beginning.  The  inclosure  was  a  stockade  formed  by 
setting  logs  upright,  and  close  together,  the  lower  end  bedded  in 
the  earth  and  the  upper  sharpened  like  pickets  or  pikes.  Within 
this  inclosure  and  near  the  stockade  was  arrayed  the  barracks  and 
the  officers'  quaj-ters;  they  were  built  of  hewn  logs.  Within 
these  and  to  the  south  side  of  the  inclosure  was  the  parade 
ground.  In  1857  Mr.  A.  J.  Cross,  now  connected  with  the  C.  E. 
&  Q.  R.  R.,  but  then  in  the  employ  of  the  city,  tore  down  the 
fort  and  lighthouse  and  leveled  the  mound  bv  carting  the  sand  to 
till  Randolph  street  to  grade.  One  of  the  buildings  was  moved 
but  still  within  the  site  of  the  fort  (about  the  center  of  the  store  now 
■owned  by  W.  M.  Hoyt,  and  occupied  by  the  firm  of  which  he  is 
the  head).  That  building  stood  till  the  iire  of  1871  destroyed  it, 
and  thus  removed  the  last  of  Fort  Dearborn.  A  few  weeks  be- 
fore that  fire  I  visited  that  building  with  my  father,  and  he,  lay- 
ing his  hands  on  one  of  its  corners,  said,  "This  is  one  of  the 
Ijuildings  of  the  old  fort  as  I  saw  it  in  1836." 

War  has  given  way  to  Peace,  defense  to  .'ggressive  pros])erity, 
but  may  prosperity  never  smother  our  interest  in  early  Chicago 
rand  Fort  Dearborn.* 

Yours  Respectfully, 

R.  J.  Bennett. 

*The  view  of  the  Fort  here  pi-esented  was  from  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
■iight-house  spoken  of  in  Mr.  Bennett's  letter;hence  the  ht^ht-house,  li<;ht  keeper's 
house  and  river,  do  not  !ipi>ear,  as  the  spectator  is  Icokinj^  away  from  these 
■objects.  The  large,  honey  locust  tree,  appearing  in  the  right  back-ground,  will  be 
remembered  by  many  of  our  old  citizens.  It  stood  on  the  west  side  of  Michigan 
Avenue,  so  near  the  stx-eet  that  one  needed  to  stoop  in  passing  on  the  side- walk. 
'J'radition  says  it  was  planted  by  the  daughter  of  Mr.  John  Kinzie.  It  stood 
iill  destroyed  by  the  great  fire. 


Ch'u-iKjo  Post  ihffi.ce.  445 


THE  CHICAGO  POST  OFFKJE. 

Letters  were  first  bronglit  to  Chicago  by  the  aninial  arrival  of 
a  vessel  at  tlie  fort,  or  by  some  cliaiice  traveler  who  eaine  to  the 
place  throufijh  the  wilderness,  and  later  by  i^overninent  mail  car- 
riers who  brought  the  mail  t>  the  fort  from  Detroit,  I'ort 
Wayne,  or  St.  Joseph,  about  once  a  month.  These  were  the  only 
avenues  thronirh  which  the  tue  outside  world  could  be  heard  fron> 
till  1831,  up  to  whicli  time  ]io  jwst  othcc  liad  been  established 
and  pri  .ate  persons  were  dependent  on  the  courtesy  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  fort  for  the  receipt  of  letters.  Jonathan  ]?^.  Bailey,, 
an  Indian  trader,  was  the  first  postmaster  appointed  to  act  here, 
and  on  the  31st  of  March,  1831,  opened  his  office'' on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Chicago  river,  just  north  of  the  present  Lake  street 
bridge,  in  a  log  store,  where  John  S.  C.  Hogan  sat  at  the  receipt 
of  custom.  The  official  duties  of  Mr.  Bailey  were  very  light,  the- 
mail  arriving  at  intervals  of  one  or  two  weeks,  and  the  dozen  let- 
ters and  as  many  more  newsjiapers  it  contained  were  quickly 
handed  ont  to  their  eager  expectants,  when  no  farther  woi'k  was 
necessary  till  another  mail  came, 

x\t  the  brenking  out  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  for  some  canse, 
possibly  throiigli  fear  of  cholera,  he  moved  with  his  family  to  St. 
Louis,  and  John  S.  C.  Hogan,  the  proprietor  of  the  store,  who  was 
his  son-in-law,  became  his  successor,  November  2d,  1832.  There 
are  yet,  in  1880,  a  very  few  of  the  earliest  settlers  who  retain  a 
distinct  recollection  of  receiving  their  letters  in  his  scanty  quar- 
ters, where  his  attention  Avas  divided  between  his  official  duties 
and  dealing  out  sugar,  tea  or  tobacco  by  the  pound,  or  gandy 
fabrics  to  the  tawny  customers  who  were  at  first  his  main  depend- 
ence for  income.  In  1830  he  moved  his  store  and  post  office  to 
the  corner  of  Franklin  and  South  Water  street,  where  he  held  the 
position  till  March  3d,  1837,  subsequent  to  which  time  he  went 
to  Memphis,  where  he  died.  His  successor  was  Sidney  A  bell. 
By  this  time  the  amount  of  ]iost  office  business  had  increased  to- 
a  great  extent,  not  only  as  a  delivery  of  Chicago  letters,  but  as  a 
distributing  office  xo  points  west,  and  the  former  scanty  quarters 
being  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  increasing  business,  the  office 
was  removed  to  the  south  side  of  Clark  street,  a  little  south  of 
Water  street,  and  a  salary  of  i?4,000  per  annum  was  allowed  him. 
He  retained  the  office  till  184-1,  when  President  Harrison  ap- 
pointed Wm.  Stewart  as  his  successor — the  same  who  was  the 
editor  of  The  Chicago  American.  He  retained  the  office  dui-ing- 
President  Tyler's  administration,  subsequent  to  which  time  he 
went  to  Binghampton,  !N.  Y.,  where  he  died.     James  Iv.  Polk 

*  See  Govt.  Records  at  Washington. 


44f!  ChicrKjn  Post  Ojfice. 

was  t]ie  next  President  of  tlie  United  States,  and  Hart  L.  Stewart 
was  liis  ap])ointee  fur  the  Ciiicai^o  post  ofHce  durini^  his  term  from 
18+4  to  1848. 

Mr.  Fillmore,  who  took  the  Presidential  chair  after  the  death 
of  Ml'.  Tavlor,  appointed  Geo.  W.  Dole  as  pos'master,  who  re- 
tained the  position  till  the  election  of  Franklin  j'.erce  in  1852, 
who  appointed  Isaac  Cook  to  the  ]>ositio''-  in  the  ^|  i-iiii;  of  1853. 
The  location  of  the  office  had  heen  removed  to  the  north  side  of 
Clark  street,  across  the  alley  from  the  Sherman  liou^e.  From 
thence  it  was  removed  across  the  street  to  the  south  side  of  the 
game  alley,  and  over  it  was  the  office  of  the  Chicago  Tribune. 
Thence  it  was  removed  to  Xos.  82  and  84  Dearhoni  street. 

On  the  accession  ot  James  Buchanan  to  the  Presidential  chair 
in  1857,  W/n.  Price  was  a]i])ointed  ])ostmaster.  lie  retained  the 
office  but  a  few  months,  when  owin<,^  to  the  dead  lock  betwe.n 
Senator  I )oui;las  and  the  administration  on  the  validity  of  the 
Lecom])ton  constitution  of  Kansas,  and  kindred  toils,  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  remove  him,  which  was  pi-cmiptly  done,  and 
Mr.  Cook,  who  was  a  friend  to  Buchanan's  measures,  was  restored 
to  his  position,  which  he  retained  till  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  I860,*  who  a]>pointed  John  L.  Scrips,  whose  editor- 
shi])  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  is  still  fresh  in  our  memories.  Mr. 
Scrips,  on  account  of  ill  health,  declined  an  appointment  under 
Mr.  Lincoln's  second  term,  and  Samuel  Hoard  was  appointed  as 
his  successor.  He  retained  the  position  till  President  Johnson 
took  the  executive  chair,  made  vacant  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  death, 
when  Rob.  C.  Gilmore  was  appointed,  but  was  accidentally 
drowned  immediately  afterwards,  and  Frank  T.  Sherman  was  ap- 
pointed to  fill  the  place  during  Mr.  Johnson's  term.  On  the  acces- 
sion of  General  Grant  to  the  Presidency  in  1809,  Francis  A. 
Eastman  was  appointed  to  the  place.  He  resigned  in  1873,  and 
Gen.  John  Mc Arthur  was  apjiointed  by  Gen.  Grant  to  the  place, 
who  took  possession  of  the  office  February  14th,  and  held  it  till 
March  10th,  1877,  at  which  time  Hon"!  F.  AY.  Palmer,  the 
pi'esent  incumbent,  was  appointed  to  the  position  by  President 
Hayes. 

At  the  great  fire  of  1871  it  is  worthy  of  remark  that  while 
nearly  all  private  pro]>erty  in  the  burnt  district  was  destroyed, 
the  mail  was  all  saved  by  dint  of  hard  work,  not  exeinpt  from 

*Previous  to  this  time  Hon.  JohnWentworth,  when  representative  to  Congress 
in  1853,  had  obtained  at  the  first  session  of  the  thirty-third  Congress  in  the  civil 
and  diplomatic  appropriation  bill,  approved  Au<?ust  4th.  1854,  the  first  appro- 
priation for  the  Chicago  post  office  in  the  followinjr  words:  "  For  the  accomaio- 
tion  of  the  custom  house,  post  office.  United  States  courts,  and  steamboat  in- 
spectors, a  building  of  stone  85x60  feet,  60  feet  in  height  irom  the  foundation,  to 
cost  not  more  than  $88,000."  And  it  is  worthy  of  mention  that  this  is  the 
only  building  whose  walls  survived  the  great  fixe  Of  1871. 


a 


Chicaffo  Post  Op-e.  447 

danii^er  to  the  eiii])luyes  of  tlie  departments.  It  was  estaldished 
on  the  northwest  curner  of  State  and  IGtli  streets,  from  wlience, 
after  two  montlis.  it  was  removed  to  the  Wabash  Avenue  Meth- 
odist ('Inirch.  (!orner  of  Harrison  street,  wliere  it  remained  till 
the  fire  of  1S74,  when  it  ai^ain  "^i'lX  l)efim'  the  devonriti<^  element 
— savinir  all  the  mail  —  establishini>-  itself  at  the  ]M(stal  station, 
corner  of  Washington  and  TIalstcad  streets  in  the  West  I)ivi>ion, 
and  no  interj-uj)tion  was  caused  by  this  fire  in  the  delivtay  <jf 
letters.  These  (piarters  were  retaiiied  about  a  month,  when  the 
office  was  established  in  the  ll(»nore  buildinLC,  corner  of  JX'arboru 
and  Adams  streets,  wli ere  it  remained  till  fire  again  invaded  their 
liarters,  .Jan.  4tli.  187!*,  when  tliey,  with  all  the  nuxil  saved,  took 
ii,dit  to  the  noifheast  corner  of  AVashiiii-'ton  and  State  streets,  in 
the  Ita  cement  of  the  8in<^er  building,  where  it  reniainetl  till  April 
12th,  1S7(<.  at  which  time  the  otfice  was  established  at  its  present 
hK'ality  in  the  Government  building,  oocu]>ying  the  square  lie- 
tween  Adams,  Jackson,  (Mark  and  Dearborn  streets. 

The  expenses  of  the  office  in  1836  were  ^300,  and  its  commis- 
sions the  same  A'ear  were  S2,14S.29.  Ten  vears  later,  in  1840,  the 
expenses  were  §5,tJ34.39,  while  the  expenses  were  $7,2:28.,"')  1, 
Ten  years  later,  ir*  1856,  the  expenses  were  S41,130.5C,  and  the 
expenses,  $65,S04:.41 . 

Since  the  fire,  beginning  with  1872,  ihe  total  amount  of  money- 
order  transactions  i'>ceived  and  paid  out  have  been  as  follows: 
For  1872,  $7,937.751.20;  1873,  §10,632,009.08;  1874,  $14,507,- 
431.83;  1875,  $14,741,440.05;  1876,  $12,930,824.88;  1877,  $13,- 
157,085.33;  1878,  $15,598,705.14;  1879,  §10,892,975.92.  The 
sale  of  stanijjs,  stamped  envelopes  and  postal  cards  for  the  same 
period  has  been,  1872,  $715,010.27;  1873,  when  postal  cards 
were  first  introduced,  $788,000.29;  1874,  $840,388.48;  1875, 
$970,880.47;  1876,  $955,417.70;  1877,  $953,148.08;  1878,  $1,000,- 
352.10:  1879,  $1,074,237.62. 


44S  CJdcago  Harbor, 


CHICAGO  HARBOR. 

Chicago  III,,  June  21,  1880. 
RuFus  Blanchari). 

Wheaton,  111. 

Dear  Sir:  I  take  great  pleasure  in  submitting,  in  accoi'dance 
with  your  request,  the  following  statement  of  work  done  by  the 
U.  S.  Government  for  improving  the  harbor  at  Cb'cago;  it 
would  be  more  accurate  to  say  for  making  a  harbor,  as  noiie  ex- 
isted until  the  natural  condition  of  affairs  was  modified.  An 
idea  of  what  this  condition  was  may  be  derived  from  a  glance  at 
the  plate  fronting  page  2ri4,  Part  III  of  your  book;  there  we  see 
that  the  Cliicagu  Kivcr,  anaking  an  abrupt  bend  to  the  south, 
breaks  through  the  sandspit  some  distance  south  of  the  site  of 
the  old  fort.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  was  a  peruia- 
nent  outlet,  nor  that  it  constituted  a  reliable  channel  of  com- 
munication between  the  lake  and  river.  It  was  simply  a  break 
through  the  sandspit,  in  which  the  dejjth  of  water  seldom  ex- 
ceeded two  feet,  and  which  was  frequently  entirely  blockaded 
with  sand. 

The  act  of  Congre,.?  approved  Mai«h  2nd,  1833,  appropriated 
the  sum  of  $25,000  for  improving  the  ''harbor  at  Chicago,  on 
Lake  Michigan;"  and  then  was  begun  that  series  of  works  which 
has  given  to  Chicago  the  fine  harbor  facilities  indicated  on  the 
sketch  transmitted  herewith. 

The  first  step  was  to  make  a  direct  cut  from  the  bend  in  the 
river,  to  the  lake;  a  revetment  was  placed  on  the  north  side  of 
the  cut,  and  the  north  ])ier  was  projected  into  the  lake  for  a  dis- 
tance of  about  1,000  feet;  the  object  of  this  pier  was  to  catch  and 
hold  back  the  sand,  which,  moving  south  along  the  lake  shore 
under  the  influence  of  the  littoral  current,  would  soon  have 
closed  the  outlet,  and  left  matters  as  bad  as  before.  "Wln'le  the 
construction  of  the  north  pier  was  in  progress,  the  cu*"  was 
widened  to  200  feet,  and  riveted  on  the  south  side.  In  thi..  way 
a  reliable  entrance  to  the  river  was  secured  at  an  early  date  it 
would  be  neither  interesting  nor  instructive  to  follow,  step  by  step, 
the  progress  of  this  system  of  improvement,  and  I  will  sin.  ply 
state  that  the  work  consisted  in  a  gradual  extension  of  thepi?rs, 
and  some  necessary  dredging  between  them,  until  the  year  IS'JP, 
before  any  movement  was  made  to  ol»tain  increased  harl)or  fai  il- 
ities,  beyond  those  furnished  by  the  river.     At  this  time  the  e.id 


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CIncago  Harbor.  441) 

of  tlie  north  pier  was  1,100  feet  lakeward  of  the  shore  line  of  18fi9, 
— the  shore  line  itself  liaving  advanced,  by  natural  accretions 
due  to  the  littoral  current  before  referred  to,  throngli  a  distance 
of  2,000  feet;  the  area  of  these  accretions  was  about  75  acres;  the 
south  pier  was  about  1,600  feet  sliorter  than  the  nortli  oier;  the 
total  extent  of  pier  work  and  revetment  made  by  the  IT.  S.  from 
1833  to  1870  aofirre<rated  about  6.000  feet. 

In  the  meantime,  the  commerce  of  Chicairo  liad  increased  to 
such  proportions,  as  to  sliow  clearly  that  something;  must  be 
done  to  relieve  the  river  from  its  crowded  condition.  Accord- 
ingly we  lind  that  Major  J.  E.  Wheeler,  the  11.  S.  Engineer  in 
charge  of  the  works,  reported  to  the  ('hief  of  Engineers,  in  a 
letter  dated  Jsow  30,  1869,  '^  that  the  Chicago  river  is  taxed  to 
its  utmost,  to  accommodate  the  ]iresent  condition  of  affairs,  and 
that  it  is  utterly  inadequate  to  meet  the  wants  of  commerce  rap- 
idly growing."  To  obtain  the  desired  relief,  he  lecomniended 
that  a  portion  of  the  lake  be  inclosed  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
form  an  outer  harbor;  to  this  end  he  proposed  to  construct  a 
brerdcwater  extending  southerly,  from  the  entrance  between  the 
piers,  for  a  distance  of  4,000  feet,  and  from  the  south  end  of  this 
structure,  a  closing  pier,  3,400  feet  long  to  the  shore  at  the  foot 
of  Van  Buren  St.;  the  enclosed  area  was  then  to  be  dredged  to  a 
sufficient  depth  for  vessels  to  lie  at  anchor.  This  ]»ian  having 
been  approved,  work  was  commenced  on  the  main  breakwater  in 
1870,  and  completed  in  1875.  The  de])th  of  water  in  which  it  was 
built,  varies  from  20  to  22  feet ;  it  is  built  of  cribs  30  feet  wide 
solidly  filled  with  stone  ;  its  superstructure  extends  to  G  feet 
above  the  water  surface.  During  tlie  time  that  work  i>n  this 
structure  was  in  progress,  the  south  pi»  r  was  extended  OoO  feet 
and  a  "  return  "  300  ieet  long,  added  to  the  north  end  of  the  break- 
water ;  in  1876,  the  north  pier  was  extended  (JOO  feet  Thus  the 
total  extent  of  crib-work  for  piers  and  breakwater,  built  from 
1870  to  1876  inclusive,  was  5.500  lineal  feet. 

There  was  no  monev  available  for  doinir  much  work  in  the 
year  following,  but  when  the  appropriation  for  1S7S  becajue  avail- 
able, it  was  applied,  in  part,  to  dredging  a  channel  500  feet  wide 
to  a  depth  of  16J  feet,  through  the  outer  harbor,  the  amount  of 
excavation  being  about  100,000  cubic  yards.  In  November,  1878, 
Captain  G.  J.  Lydecker,  tl-e  U.  S.  engineer  in  charge,  submitted 
a  project  for  nioditying  and  extending  tlie  facilities  turnished 
by  Wheeler's  plan;  the  ]irincipal  features  of  this  modified  plan, 
which  was  approved,  were  the  substitution  of  a  detached  break- 
water for  the  southerly  or  closing  ]jier,  proposed  by  Major 
Wheeler,  and  the  construction  of  an  exterior  breakwater,  located 
to  the  northward  and  eastward  of  the  north  pier,  to  cover  a  good 


450     .  Chicago  Harbor. 

anchorage  ground  in  deep  water,  and  provide  in  this  way  a  harbor 
of  i-efuge.  The  construction  of  the  southerly  breakwater  was 
connuoiiced  in  June,  1S71>,  and  completed  to  its  full  extent,  3,000 
feet,  early  in  the  r-u'nnier  of  1880. 

The  total  exj)enditnrebv  the  U.  S.  Government,  for  this  harbor, 
from  1833  to  July,  lSS(t/is  $1,108,005.  The  work  has  all  been 
planned  and  executed  under  the  direction  of  officers  detailed  from 
the  Corps  of  Engineers  17.  S,  Army;  it  includes  the  construction 
of  abiait  14,500  lineal  feet  of  piers  and  breakwater,  and  an  in- 
definite amount  of  dredging.  The  benetits  derived  therefrom 
may  be  summarized  as  follows:  In  1833  there  was  no  reliable 
channel  connecting  the  lake  and  river,  whereas  now  there  is  a 
straight  entrance  Itetween  the  ]>iers,  with  a  channel  depth  of  15 
feet.  The  breakwaters  already  built  shelter  an  area  of  450  acres, 
which  was  formerly  in  the  open  lake,  and  will  permit  the  con- 
ftruction  <.if  wharves  alouir  the  lake  front  as  far  as  12th  Street, 
which,  supposing  oite  at  the  foot  of  each  street,  would  provide  an 
aggregate  length  of  dock  line  of  at  least  32,000  feet,  and  these 
docks  will  be  in  direct  communication  with  the  railway  system 
of  the  city. 

When  the  work  already  authorized  is  com]>leted,  the  outer 
harbor  will  have  a  uniform  depth  of  1(S^  feet,  and  the  exterior 
breakwater  will  provide  an  excellent  harbor  of  refuge,  which 
vessels  can  reach  with  ease  during  the  severest  storms,  and  from 
which  the  outer  harbor  and  river  will  be  readily  accessible.  For 
carrving  on  this  work.  Congress  has  this  vear  appropriated  the 
sura'  of  $145,000. 

In  addition  to  the  works  described  above  for  the  improvement 
of  the  harbor,  the  Government  has  also  built  and  maintained  at 
Chicago  one  lighthouse,  three  beacons,  and  one  life-saving  station. 

Very  respectfully, 

'  G.  J.  Lydeckee, 

Major  of  Engineers  U.  S.  A. 


Convention  of  I860-  -l"»l 


CONVENTION  OB^  1860. 

Two  opposin;^  forces  grew  into  antagonism  in  the  United 
■tStates  within  the  meniorv  of  middle-aged  men  now  living. 

This  antagonism,  that  had  been  gathering  force  during  a  gen- 
eration in  its  progress,  had  gradually  obliterated  party  lines,  and 
substituted  an  issue  on  a  real  principle  in  political  economy  for 
the  old  one  which  had  existed  between  the  Wliig3  and  the 
Democrats. 

The  old  issue  grew  out  of  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  on 
financial  questions  such  as  tariff,  banking  and  public  improve- 
meiits;  the  AVhigs  being  the  ambitious  and  ])rogressive  element, 
and  the  Democrats  claimini;  to  be  the  cautious  re^fulators  to 
iipply  the  brakes  upon  hasty  and  ill-digested  legislation.  But 
at  the  time  when  the  new  issue  came  into  existence  the  old 
■^me  had  lost  its  national  character  and  become  effete.  The  new 
issue  was  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and  dis])ite  all  efforts  on  the 
part  of  statesmen,  as  well  as  divines,  to  bury  it  beneath  some  plas- 
tic subterfuge,  it  came  up  in  1S56  in  its  naked  proportions,  at  the 
Philadelphia  convention  which  nominated  Fremont  as  candidate 
for  President  of  the  United  States  to  represent  the  principles  of 
the  new^  pfirfy-  The  issue  that  now  divided  the  country  prac- 
tically involved  the  existence  of  slavery.  Financial  questions 
■were  lost  sight  of,  and  had  little  or  no  part  in  it. 

It  was  the  first  time  iu  the  histor}'  of  the  country  that  an  issue 
liad  grown  up  in  flie  popular  heart  exempt  from  any  other  but 
conscientious  principles  as  to  what  policy  should  best  promote 
justice,  as  well  as  national  honor.  The  situation  in  the  United 
States  at  that  time  resembled  that  of  PJngland  when  the  common- 
wealth displaced  the  reigning  dynasty  on  a  religious  question. 
It  was  the  higher  law  in  both  cases  that  the  new  party  was  con- 
tending for,  and  in  both  it  was  the  first  time  that  either  country, 
by  t!ie  force  of  public  opinion  only,  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
moral  tribunal  b\  which  to  overturn  the  majesty  of  legal  forms. 

No  one  will  deny  that  this  was  the  case  in  England  in  the 
<]ays  of  Cromwell,  and  the  ]n'oof  that  such  was  the  case  in  the 
United  States  in  the  political  campaigii  of  1860,  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  after  the  war  which  followed  it,  the  Constitution  had  to 
be  changed  to  comply  with  the  changes  it  had  wronglit.  The 
attempt  to  coinpass  tlie  desired  end,  brought  to  light  in  1850  at 
the  Philadelphia  Republican  Convention,  the  first  of  its  kind, 
proved  a  failure. 


452  Convention  of  1S60. 

The  moral  sense  of  its  advocates  was  deeply  wounded,  but  tiiey 
bore  the  humiliation  in  silence,  with  no  letting  down  of  their 
Durposes;  on  the  contrary,  they  gathered  strength  as  the  time  drew 
near  for  another  trial  in  1860.  And  now  no  prestige,  no  favor- 
itism, no  conventional  forms  or  local  rights  must  stand  in  the 
way  of  the  fuliihnent  of  the  great  popular  voice  that  transcendtul 
everything.  In  vain  may  history  be  searched  for  such  a  sub- 
lime episode  when  so  complete  a  submission  was  made  to  a  prin- 
ciple as  the  Chicago  Convention  of  1860  personified.  It  is 
doubtful  if  Chicago  is  ever  again  destined  to  such  honors  as  fell 
iipon  her  when  she  was  selected  as  the  most  appropriate  place 
for  this  convention.  It  was  a  compliment  paid  to  the  moral 
sense  of  her  rising  mind,  to  the  magnanimity  of  her  national 
policy,  to  her  immunity  from  local  prejudice,  to  her  bold  and 
original  conceptions,  and  to  her  youthful  and  impulsive  force,  so 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  work  which  the  convention  were 
about  to  undertake.  More  than  all  this,  it  was  a  proof  that  her 
interests  were  locally  interwoven  with  every  part  of  the  United 
States,  not  only  by  the  phj'sical  forces  of  nature,  but  by  the  fra- 
ternizing influences  that  irrow  out  of  them  throu";}!  the  channels- 
of  coniinerce. 

As  soon  as  the  selection  was  )nade,  prompt  action  was  taken 
by  Chicago's  leading  citizens  to  make  preparation  for  the  occas- 
ion, commensurate  with  its  imj)ortimce.  The  first  thing  to  bo 
done  was  to  provide  a  place  for  its  sessions,  and  to  this  en<l  anew 
and  original  plan  was  ]n-oposed.  It  was  to  erect  a  building  on 
purpose.  The  proposal  was  received  with  favor  so  universal,  that 
by  voluntary  subscriptions,  the  bulk  of  which  was  not  over  ten 
dollars  from  each  giver,  the  building  was  erected.  It  consisted 
of  an  immense  audience  room  arranged  like  an  amphitheatre, 
whose  roof  was  supported  by  numerous  upright  poslc.  It  was 
christened  The  Wigwam. 

The  convention  was  unlike  any  that  had  ever  preceded  it. 
Beneath  the  noisy  demonstratitms  that  always  accompany  such 
gatherings,  like  the  froth  that  floats  upon  the  surface  of  deep  wa- 
ters, was  a  silent  force,  the  ottspring  of  that  kind  of  philosophy 
which  might  be  called  Antinomian  in  its  charr.cter;  a  philosophy 
that  accepts  things  for  what  they  are  worth,  and  not  for  what 
they  appear  to  be;  a  philosophy  that  sees  the  subliniest  truths  in 
simple  formula,  and  beholds  a  direct  road  to  national  grandeur, 
unobstructed  by  the  vagaries  of  partisans;  a  philosophy  that 
could  be  charitable  without  complicity,  discreet  without  being 
exclusive,  prudent  without  being  intolerant,  conservative  without 
a  letting  down  of  princij)le,  and  more  tenacious  for  substance 
than  for  theory.    vVIio  could  fill  such  a  measured  Who  could  step 


Convention  of  1860.  453 

into  the  arena  impervious  to  the  shots  of  envy,  liatred  and  malice 
*iestined  to  be  liurled  asjainst  him  from  an  old  party  whose  loni^ 
lease  of  power  had  eoiitirmed  it  in  its  defensive  measures  of  ex- 
treme constitutional  rights  (! 

Horace  Greeley  was  then  a  potent  force  in  the  new  party.  All 
eyes  were  turned  to  him  lor  support,  and  no  doubt  exists  that, 
had  he  a:ivcu  Mr.  Seward  his  hearty  supjxjrt  from  the  lirst,  he 
would  have  been  elected  as  the  nominee  at  the  first  ballotinij:  of 
tlie  convention.  Every  influence  that  the  ingenuity  of  Mr, 
Seward's  friends  could  suggest  was  early  brought  to  bear  upon 
Mr.  Greeley  in  his  behalf,  but  the  venerable  printer  was  imper- 
vious to  any  pressure  that  couUl  be  brought  upon  him.  He  did 
not  oppriso  Mr.  Seward,  but  the  fact-,  that  he  had  not  advocated 
his  cause,  added  to  the  fact  that  the  Press  and  Tribune,  the 
Journal  and  the  Deim)crat,  of  Ohic.igo,  had  i'rom  the  first  been 
earnest  supjiorters  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  the  noaiinee,  pre- 
vented hasty  action  in  the  coitvention  and  held  back  the  party 
leaders  in  abeyance  to  public  sentiment.  In  the  hands  of  the 
latter,  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  was  assured,  for  the  convention 
-dared  not  disobey  its  mandates.  Besides  this,  the  very  atmos- 
phere of  Chicago  was  charged  in  his  favor  l)v  a  subtle  and  irre- 
sistible force,  before  which  all  other  ]iretensions  vanished,  and 
when  the  day  set  for  the  opening  of  the  convention  arrived  an 
Impressive  circumspection  reigned  throughout  the  hall,  and  even 
extended  its  influence  into  the  broad  open  air  of  the  streets  out- 
side; for  among  the  many  thousands  gathered  there,  were  agood- 
Iv  number  whose  maturitv  of  intellect  rose  above  the  average 
mind,  and  leavened  the  whole  lump  with  a  full  measure  of 
gravity  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  The  convention  commenced 
its  sittings  on  the  16tli  of  May,  1860,  and  continued  till  the  19th. 
It  was  composed  of  -ftl);  delegates,  2'^A:  of  whom  were  necessary 
lor  a  choice.  "On  the  third  ballot  Lincoln  received  35i  votes, 
uiiieh  result  was  announced  to  the  audience,  and  loud  and  long 
contiiwied  clieers  from  them  sufficiently  vouehed  the  action  of 
the  delegates  by  unmistakable  signs  of  enthusiasm.  Hannibal 
ILimlin,  of  Maine,  was  nominated  on  the  next  ballot  for  vice- 
•])resitlent  by  lUJT  votes.  Tiie  news  flew  to  every  part  of  the 
-country,  and  the  presidential  campaign  opened  with  an  enthusi- 
ivsm  on  the  ])art  of  the  new  party,  and  firmness  on  the  part  of 
the  old,  never  before  witnessed. 

Tiie  results  of  the  Kepublican  victory  which  followed  are  sub- 
lime beyond  description,  and  sad  1  eyond  measure,  and  will  never 
be  forgotten  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

A  careful  study  of  them,  while  it  reveals  the  frailties  of  over- 
reaching ambition  on  the  part  of  those  who  raised  their  ariu 


454  Convention  of  I860. 

against  the  government,  also  reveals  the  unAvelconie  truth  that 
posterity's  teeth  will  be  set  on  edge  by  the  public  debt,  incurred 
in  the  inevitable  war  which  followed.  Mr.  Lincoln's  untar- 
nished record  in  it  has  turned  all  his  political  enemies  into 
friends  of  his  measures  and  his  memorv,  and  convinced  the  world 
that  greatness  is  less  the  result  of  notorietv  than  natural  ffood 
sense.  The  creatures  of  vain  ambition  stood  appalled  before  his 
unpretentious  power,  that  with  a  simple  helm  overturned  the 
work  of  the  forum,  and  demolished  whatever  stood  in  the  way  of 
the  sense  of  the  nation,  of  which  he  was  the  faithful  rcj)resenta- 
tive. 

His  life  and  his  death  were  an  ever-living  proof  that  justice  is- 
the  only  thing  that  can  save  a  nation  in  times  of  peril,  and  his- 
exemplary  administration  of  public  atl'airs  has  made  it  ])ossible 
for  historians  to  write  his  eulogy  without  being  accused  of  parti- 
sanship. 

No  President  of  the  United  States  should  come  short  of  this- 
high  standard  of  statesmanship  which,  if  universally  practiced, 
would  be  a  safeguard  against  the  disgraces  of  partisan  strategy 
and  the  dangers  of  disunion,  as  well  as  the  moudy  discontents  i»f 
Socialism.  Simple  justice  is  all  the  people  want,  in  default  of" 
which  revolution,  souner  or  later,  will  bring  it  with  fearful  retri- 
bution. 

That  Mr.  Lincoln's  administration  was  statesman-like  and  not 
partisan,  is  demonstrated  by  the  tact  that  at  his  untimclydcath, 
one  of  the  best  representatives  of  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
Alexander  ^L  Stephens,  said:  "That  is  the  heaviest  blow  the 
South  has  yet  received." 

Had  his  life  been  spared,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  problem 
of  reconstruction  would  have  received  a  magnanimous  solution 
more  consistent  with  political  economy  than  was  possible  with- 
out his  counsels.  He  who  jvuew  how  to  improvise  useful  mater- 
ial to  build  up  his  own  cause  out  of  those  opposed  to  him,  might 
have  turned  the  popular  tide  of  the  South  after  the  war  in  favor 
of  the  Union  by  those  modifying  arts  that  melted  away  opposi- 
tion to  the  forms  of  law  and  order  which  he  had  reduced  to- 
simple  elements.  As  an  example  of  his  easy  way  of  overcoming 
opposition,  the  following  circumstance,  which  has  never  before 
been  made  public,  is  here  related.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  a 
quar.dary  as  to  whom  he  should  give  the  chief  command  of  the- 
union  forces,  he  consultad  an  old  friend  on  the  impoitant  matter,, 
and  while  conferring  together,  Mr.  Lincoln  proposed  to  give  the- 
chief  command  of  the  Union  forces  to  Douglas,  on  the  ground 
that  his  indomitable  energy  and  superior  capacity  would  insure? 
success  against  the  foe,  and  convert  enemies  in  the  uorth  into* 


Convention  of  I860.  455 

friends.  This  measure  was  opposed  by  tlie  adviser  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, on  the  ground  that  it"  suocessful,  Mr.  Douglas  might  use 
his  prestige  in  a  spirit  of  rivalry  against  the  administration. 
This  consideration  had  no  weight  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  wlio  still 
favored  the  promotion  of  Mr.  Douglas  to  the  position. 

Seeing  he  could  not  turn  his  purposes,  his  adviser  admonished 
him  of  the  fact,  that  inasmuch  as  Mr.  Douglas  was  then  dan- 
gerously sick  at  Chicago,  it  would  be  prudent  to  wait  till  he  had 
recovered  before  appointing  him  to  the  position,  lest  in  the  event 
of  his  death,  the  friends  of  !Mr.  Douglas  would  say  that  an  empty 
honor  had  been  conferred  upon  him,  which  it  was  certain,  he 
never  could  live  to  enjoy.  This  consideration  liad  its  desired 
efl'ect,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  concluded  to  let  the  appointment  rest,  to 
await  the  result  of  jVIr.  Douglas'  sickness.  Within  two  weeks  ■ 
from  that  time  he  died.* 

There  may  be  some  at  this  time  who  honestly  deprecate  the 
war,  and  aver  that  the  national  debt  will  entail  more  evils  n])on 
the  white  race  that  can  be  compensated  by  the  liberation  of  the 
colored  race;  but  even  these  do  not  censure  Mr.  Lincoli:,  or  hold 
him  responsible  for  any  national  griefs,  for  by  his  own  record  he 
is  shown  to  have  been  willing  to  save  the  union,  either  with  or 
without  slavery,  and  his  tardy  issue  of  the  emancipation  procla- 
mation till  it  i)ecame  si,  sine  qua  non^  as  to  public  coutidence  in 
the  ability  of  the  Xorth  to  conquer  the  rebellion,  sufliciently  de- 
monstrated his  broad  national  conservatism,  as  well  as  his  fidelity 
to  the  uni()n.  Such  a  happy  combination  of  all  the  statesman- 
like qualities  so  necessary  to  guide  the  shi]>  of  State  through  the 
tangled  mazes  of  our  Civil  War,  could  not  have  grown  into  being 
, under  New  England  culture;  not  but  what  she  had  men  superior 
to  Mr  Lincoln  in  any  one  gift,  but  '\\  vain  may  we  look  there  for 
those  matchless  virtues  which  Western  pioneer  training,  Western 
broad-gauge  statesmanship,  and  universal  good  fellowship,  has 
added  to  their  already  munificent  inheritances  from  the  East,  and 
for  which  an  everlasting  debt  of  obligation  is  dne  her. 

The  West  is  the  child  of  the  East,  and  as  the  parent  in  the  ma- 
turity of  age  takes  pride  in  the  transcendent  genius  of  a  son, 
so  the  East  beholds  the  zenith  of  imperial  power  graduating  west- 
ward as  new  fields  for  national  grandeur  are  unfolded  in  that  di- 
rection, quickening  into  activity  generous  purposes,  in  propor- 
tion to  her  accumulatins: resources.  • 

*The  authority  for  this  is  a  statesman  now  living:,  whose  advanced  years  are 
his  apology  for  not  allowing  his  name  to  appear,  lest  it  might  subject  him  to 
inquisitive  interviewing.  He  says,  however,  that  if  necessary  to  sustain  the 
veracity  of  the  writer,  he  will  waive  the  objections  and  give  his  name  to  the 
public  as  voucher  for  the  statement. 


456  Convention  of  1S60. 

Ml*.  Lincoln  was  the  incarnate  type  and  model  of  the  combined 
virtues  of  the  Western  citizen;  and  wliere  on  the  face  of  the  great 
W(irl(l  of  proixross  ciin  his  e(.i[iial  be  found,  in  his  full  rounded  up 
charact  :r,  delieient  in  notliiui;  which  could  bring  strength  to  the 
nation  by  securing  the  services  of  the  working  bees,  and  not  the 
drones,  in  its  great  hive. 

Doth  of  the  Xapoleons  have  made  their  mistakes,  plain  to  be 
seen  by  all,  for  whicli  they  have  paid  tlie  penalty.  Cromwell's 
rule  with  all  its  grandeur,  if  blended  with  Lincoln's  charity. 
Would  have  securec,'  the  full  endorsement  of  the  Massachusetts 
colony  (which  it  never  received),  and  would  have  warded  off  the 
recoil,  M'liich,  at  his  death,  replaced  the  old  dynasty.  Bismarck, 
for  want  of  Lincoln's  charity,  has  of  late  entangled  Germany  in 
a  threatening  religious  issue,  besides  havin<r  challenired  a  hostile 
antagonism  in  France,  that  costs  the  nation  millions  annually  to 
defend  themselves  against. 

Tlie  policy  by  which  even  wise  England  conquered  N^apoleon 
at  the  expense  of  their  national  debt,  has  long  since  been  ac- 
knowledged by  her  best  statesmen  to  have  been  a  mistake,*  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  would  never  have  had  place,  if  the  con- 
servatism of  Abraham  Lincoln  had  prevailed  in  the  English  par- 
liament at  the  time.  By  comparing  notes  with  the  world,  while 
we  as  frontierers  can  make  but  a  pitiful  show  in  science  or  art, 
yet  in  that  kind  of  natural  good  sense  which  our  conditions  have 
introduced  into  political  economy,  we  have  claims  worthy  of 
consideration;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  genius  of 
Lincoln,  as  the  representative  of  them,  has  crowned  the  West 
M'ith  imperishable  laui'els.  It  has  also  proven  the  elastic  tenacity 
of  the  West,  a  bond  essential  to  the  ]>reservation  of  the  Union  in 
times  of  peril,  and  Chicago  to  ]»e  the  pivot  on  which  the  hinge 
turns.  Under  this  responsibility  the  city  of  the  lakes  rests  in 
her  majesty  of  strength,  not  to  be  challenged,  but  to  be  utilized 

*As  a  i)iiiol'  of  this  tlit^  following;  oxtrnct  from  a  letter  from  Rt.  Hon.  John 
Briffbt,  iiieuiber  of  parlinnient  from  Piiniiinprham,  to  the  author,  is  quoted.  It 
is  dated  Oik'  Ash.  Koclula!'.',  April  8tli,  1.-<S(j: 

'^  As  to  the  irlsilom  of  I'nrlianieut  at  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  bef/iiining  of 
the  pyemnt  rciituri/.  I Niixpect  llwre  -was  vo  such  thiiuf  as  tvisdoin  in  those  times 
i)i  the  Br-fish  Forlidii/ent.-or  in  the  councils  of  the,  Kinr/.  Anil  now  the  time  is 
past,  'nil!  liiife  good  can  come  from  tJie  discussion  of  the  good  or  bad  of  what 
Parliaiin  lit  then  did." 

The  aiifhor  ajjrees  with  the  distinffuished  British  statesman  that  no  good  can 
comt'  from  diHcussiii^'  tiie  above  question.  But  an  allusion  is  here  made  to  it  by 
wayof  coir.parinj;  notes  between  the  policy  of  Kngland  and  America,  in  the  con- 
tracting of  their  respective  national  debts,  and  the  author  takes  this  oica-sion  to 
thank  his  lionorable  correspondent  for  the  trank  expression  of  his  opinion  iis 
above,  though  it  censures  tiie  past  policy  of  his  government.  Not  every  Amer- 
ican statesmen  would  be  equally  ingf~nuous. 


Convention  of  I860.  457 

in  the  great  fraternity  of  States,  to  which  Chicago  extends  her 
right  hand  in  that  broad-gauge  spirit  of  good  fellowship,  for  which 
she  has  a  high  reputation. 

Reckless  partisan  leaders  have  no  hand  in  this  fellowship. 
The  general  interests  of  the  country  are  the  last  things  they  care 
for.  for  tiiev  live  on  the  offal  of  venality,  and  in  ]>rop()rtion  as 
political  vices  accumulate,  their  services  are  in  demand  to  carry 
tliem,  like  mill-stones  about  their  necks,  till  corruption  has 
reached  tlie  limit  which  the  good  sense  of  the  nation  will  bear. 
Then  comes  the  recoil.  New  men  and  new  measures  are  brought 
t(i  the  front  in  the  more  forcible  but  less  noisy  strength  of  jus- 
tice. Strong  vices  stimulate  into  life  equally  strong  virtues,  to 
repair  spoilation,  and  in  no  place  in  the  country  can  these  vir- 
tuts  find  an  equally  available  field  for  action,  as  in  the  great 
center  wliose  relations  and  associations  are  divided  and  shared 
from  every  direction,  and  whose  charities  are  broadened  into  a 
national  conservatism  too  flexible  to  be  severed,  and  too  tenacious 
to  be  cunqnered.  Such  is  the  proud  position  of  the  great  North- 
west in  1881.  And  let  it  never  be  forgotten,  that  she  is  the  cradle 
of  the  new  National  Policy,  which  every  American  citizen  now 
endorses,  and  that  this  policy  was  the  fruitage  of  the  broad  fields 
for  agriculture  that  nature  so  invitingly  spread  for  free  labour  in 
the  West,  out-rivaling  the  time-serving  policy  of  slave  labour,  and 
changing  pett}'"  partisan  disputes  in  our  national  councils  into 
grander  issues,  more  worthy  the  minds  of  American  citizens. 

Twenty  years  have  passed  since  the  assembling  of  this  conven- 
tion, and  more  material  for  history  has  grown  up  with  them,  than 
<3uring  the  seventy-seven  years  preceding  it,  which  would  date 
back  to  the  peace  of  Paris,  succeeding  the  Revolution. 

With  truth,  it  may  be  said,  that  tue  issues  that  divided  the 
country  into  two  nearly  enual  parts  before  this  convention,  divide 
it  no  longer.  What,  at  least,  one  political  party  then  considered 
only  a  side-issue,  every  political  party  now  looks  upon  as  a  national 
issue,  involving  vital  principles  of  public  policy,  now  settled  on 
the  only  permanent  basis  which  "manifest  destiny"  pointed  out. 
Viewed  as  such,  it  becomes  a  legitimate  theme  for  the  historian, 
and  if  left  out  of  history,  the  treatment  of  all  or  any  other  points 
on  political  history  would  be  in  vain. 

Next  to  the  question  of  slavery,  the  question  whether  we  are 
a  solid  nation,  or  a  confederacy  of  states,  whose  integrity  is  sub- 
ject to  the  caprices  of  any  single  one,  has  been  settled 


THE  OTIEAT  FIRE  OF  1871. 

"A  voice  is  ringinj^  in  tlie  air, 

A  tale  is  trembling  on  ttie  wire, 
The  people  sliout  in  wild  despair: 

'Chicago  is  on  fire.'"* 

In  the  year  1871  A.  D.,  ami  tlie  year  38  of  the  existence  of" 
Chicago  as  a  city,  on  the  7th.  8th  atid  !)tlj  of  October,  occniTe<l 
the  great  fires.  They  mark  an  epi.-jode  in  (^hicago  liistory  never 
to  be  forgotten.  The  official  censns  of  the  city  for  IS 70  was 
i^!>8,977.  Its  population  at  the  time  of  the  fires,  one  year  later, 
at  a  prudent  estimate,  may  be  set  down  eight  per  cent,  more, 
making  822,895.  A  small  portion  only  of  these  were  born  here. 
They  had  been  drawn  hither  by  those  incentives  which  the  local- 
ity offered  for  speculation,  not  only  in  the  rise  of  real  estate,  but 
in  the  facilities  which  the  jilace  offered  as  an  emporium  for  the 
sale  t>f  every  kind  of  merchandise,  to  supply  the  increasing  wants 
of  the  great  Northwest  in  the  building  up  process  n  which  she 
was  then,  and  must  still  for  many  years,  be  engaged,  before  she 
will  have  taken  upon  lierself  the  conditions  of  political  and  social 
niatnrity. 

The  extra  stiintdus  which  the  war  had  given  to  the  increase  of 
business  in  Chicago  had  subsided,  and  a  hill  in  that  impulsive 
Juiste  that  had  lonir  been  a  distinffuishiui;  feature  here,  had  set- 
tied  upon  the  city.  The  volume  of  staple  business  was  without 
diminution,  the  real  estate  market  was  hrni.  and  the  demand  for 
this  important  auxiliary  to  wealth  was  healthy;  but  yet  there 
was  evidently  an  undercurrent  manifest  in  moneved  circles,  siir- 
nifying  that  prices  of  it  would  not  soon  again  advance,  at  least, 
by  any  eccentric  movement.  ^Vfter  the  war  was  over,  a  general 
expectation  followed  that  prices  for  everything  would  fall  imme- 
diately, and  as  one,  two,  three  and  four  years  luid  passed  without 
any  .serious  reduction,  either  mi  goods  or  real  estate,  the  ])eople 
of  Chicago  had  begun  ta  believe  that  no  such  destiny  was  in  st<u*e 
for  them.     Such  was  the  feeling  in  the  spring  of  1S71. 

The  latter  part  of  the  summer  anti  autumn  foll(»wiiig  ])assed 
without  rain  in  tlu;  entire  Northwest.  The  whole  country  was 
so  exhausted  of  moisture  that  even  the  night  refused  her  cus- 
tomary allowance  of  dew  on  the  vegetation,  and  the  grass  was 
crisp  beneath  the  feet  of  the  hungry  cattle  of  the   pasture.     The- 

*  "  The  Fall  of  Chieago,"  a  poem  written  by  Mrs.  S.  B.  Olsen,  while  the  fire 
■was  burning,  and  published  in  a  pamphlet. 


The  Great  Fire  of  ISTl.  459- 

earth  was  drv  as  ashes  to  the  deptli  of  three  feet,  and  the  i)eat\' 
bo^s  of  tlie  iiiarsli  were  as  combustible  as  the  contents  of  the- 
furnace.  Southern  winds  prevailed,  brinijjini:^  warmth  witliout 
moisture,  and  fanned  the  forests  into  universal  tinder.  Even  the 
bummer's  growtli  of  the  prairie  would  feed  a  flame  in  places 
where  it  had  not  been  j^razed  down  or  mowed.  Chicai^o  was  nor 
unlike  the  country  around  in  dryness,  and.  unfortunately,  the 
well-built  buildings  of  stone  and  brick  which  composed  her  cen- 
tral portions  were  partly  surrounded  by  cheap  wooden  buildings, 
characteristic  of  all  Western  cities  of  sudden  growth.  It  was 
among  these  that  a  lire  broke  out  a  little  before  ten  o'clock  on 
the  night  of  October  7,  1871,  on  CUinton  street,  near  its  crossin*^ 
of  Van  Euren  street,  tw«)  blocks  west  of  the  river.  Owing  to 
the  inflammable  character  of  the  building  where  it  began,  aud 
the  strong  wind  that  blew  directly  from  the  south,  it  ([uickly 
spread  to  adjacent  buildings,  and  ere  it  could  be  extinguished, 
burnt  over  the  area  lying  between  Van  Buren  street  on  the  south, 
Clinton  on  the  west,  Adams  on  the  north,  and  the  river  on  the 
east,  except  one  or  two  small  buildings  on  the  outermost  corners 
of  the  blocks. 

This  was  the  largest  tire  that  had  ever  visited  Chicag^o  up  to- 
tl  is  date. 

The  next  eveniiig,  Sunday  night,  October  S.  at  about  the  same 
hour,  a  Are  broke  out  six  blocks  south  of  the  flrst  Are,  in  a  cow- 
stable  on  the  north  side  of  l)e  Koven  street,  a  little  east  of  .fef- 
ferson.  The  current  account  at  the  time  attributed  it  to  the 
kicking  over  of  a  kerosene  lamp  by  a  cow,  while  its  owner,  a  wo- 
man named  O'Leary,  was  milking  her.  and  in  the  turmoil  of  the 
hour,  this  theor}'  was  accepted  as  a  veritable  truth,  published  in 
the  newspapers,  and  even  in  some  of  the  books  giving  the  his- 
tory of  the  Are,  but  no  evidence  can  be  found  to  sustain  it,  while, 
on  the  contrary,  the  fcdlowing  statement  would  go  to  disprove  it, 
or,  at  least,  involve  the  cause  of  the  Are  in  mystery.  On  the 
following  moru'Dg,  (Monday),  Clinton  S.  Snowden.  now  city  ed- 
itor of  the  Chic'igo  Thnes^  and  Edgar  L.  Wakeman.  now  man- 
ager of  the  Louisville  Courier-Journal  for  Chicago,  while  the 
Are  was  yet  consuming  the  buildings  in  the  North  Division,  vis- 
ited the  scene  where  it  started.  Here  thev  found  a  lariire  crowd 
of  excited  men  speculating  on  its  cause,  and  here  was  the  hut  of 
O'Leary,  with  doors  and  windows  bai''ed,  while  her  cow  stable,, 
where  all  the  crowd  supposed  that  the  Are  originated,  was  re- 
duced to  ashes.  The  two  siglit-seers  now  determined  to  force  a 
passage  into  the  O'Leary  hut.  aud  to  this  end  pried  up  one  of  the- 
t>ax?k  windows  with  a  hoard  and  entered  the  premises. 

They  found  Mrs.  O'Lea  y  in  a  fearful  state  of  suspense  lest 
she  should  be  art -ted  as  an  incendiary,  but  somewhat  under  tUfe 


400  The  Great  Fire  of  1S71. 

influence  of  stimiilants  to  brace  up  her  courage  for  tlie  occasion. 
She  solemnW  denied  any  knowledge  of  the  cause  of  tlie  fire,  and 
if  she  knows  its  cause,  without  doubt  she  will  carry  the  niysteri- 
A>us  burden  while  she  lives.  The  above  circumstances  are  stated 
1)ecause  they  describe  the  first  interviewing  of  Mrs.  O'Leary,  and 
1)oth  of  the  gentlemen  are  now  well-known  journalists  of  Chi- 
-t-ago.  Their  statement  accords  with  the  following,  fiom  the 
foreman  of  the  first  engine  comj)imy  on  the  ground,  which  is 
here  inserted  as  oflftcial:    , 

■    -         Chicago,  November  14,  1880. 

Mr.  Kufus  Blanchard,  Dear  Sir: — In  compliance  with  your  re- 
■quest  as  to  the  origin  and  condition  o+'  the  great  Chicago  fire,  I 
Avould  state,  that  being  the  fir^t  otficer  at  tlie  fire,  that  I  received 
AX\  alarm  from  the  man  in  watch-tower  of  engine  com]iany  No. 
<>,  one  minute  in  advance  of  the  alarm  given  by  the  watchman 
in  city  hall  tower.  On  my  arrival  at  the  fire,  which  was  in  the 
3illey  bounded  by  Jefferson,  Clinton,  Taylor  and  Delvoven 
streets,  I  discovered  three  or  more  barns  and  sheds  on  fire. 

I  connected  to  the  nearest  fire  plug,  located  on  the  corner  of 
JTetferson  and  DeKoven  streets,  and  went  to  work.  As  to  whicli 
'barn  the  fire  originated  in,  I  could  not  say. 

As  to  the  fire  not  being  checked  in  its  northward  progress,  I 
•would  state  in  explanation,  that  ]>revious  to  the  great  fire  of 
1871,  watchmen  were  stationed  in  the  city  hall  tower,  to  keej)  a 
lookout  tor  fires;  and  if  a  fire  was  discovered  by  either  of  the 
men,  he  called  the  operator  on  duty  in  the  fire  alarm  office,  loca- 
ted on  the  third  floor  below  the  watch-tower,  and  instructed  him 
what  box  to  strike. 

On  the  evening  of  Oct.  8,  1871,  the  watchman  on  duty  in  the 
'city  hall  tower,  discovered  the  fire,  and  ordered  the  operator  to 
strike  a  box  located  one  mile  southwest  from  the  fire,  which  he 
should  have  located  one  mile  northeast,  and  which  would  have 
brought  the  first  alarm  engines  instead  of  the  second,  which  re- 
sponded to  the  alarm  given  by  watchman,  the  first  alarm  en- 
gines remaining  at  their  respective  houses.  In  conclusion,  I 
■would  state  that  the  above  are  facts. 

Wn.I.IAM    uMlSUAM, 

Foreman  of  Engine  Co.  No.  (>. 

Whatever  might  have  been  its  cause,  there  is  n(»  reasonable 
■suspicion  that  it  was  the  result  of  incendiarism.  IJefore  the 
strong  south-westerly  wind  which  was  then  blowing,  it  ]><MietratC(l 
■diagonally  across  block  after  block,  at  first  cutting  a  swath  about 
SO  feet  wide,  gradually  increasing  in  widtii  in  passi;:' through 
the  cheap  wooden  buildings  in  its  track,  leaving  beiund  a  fiery 


Thi-  Great  Fire  of.  1871.  461 

AvalvO,  making  slow  Imt  f^iire  inroads,  laterally  on  both  sides^ 
At  11:30  it  had  readied  the  open  ruins  ot'  the  previous  night's 
devastations.  Though  up  to  tliis  time  the  utmost  exertions  of 
the  tiremen  had  been  feeble  and  unavailing  against  the  progress  of 
the  tlames,  it  was  hoped  that  the  broad  space  burnt  the  night 
before  would  arrest  the  northern  progress  of  the  lire,  and  the  river 
its  eastern  progress.  But  bv  this  tinic  it  liad  attacked  the  planing 
mills  and  various  manufactures  of  lumber  along  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  between  Taylor  and  Van  Bureii  streets,  and  a  living 
mass  of  lire, covering  a  hundred  acres  of  combu^tihles.  shot  up- 
into  the  clouds,  lighting  up  the  midnight  Jiour  with  a  shett  of 
Hame,  whicli  dashed  hope  of  arresting  its  career  lo  the  ground. 
At  one  bound  the  wind  carried  burning  brands,  not  only  acros:^ 
the  river,  but  even  to  Franklin  Street.  These  newly  kindled 
lires  immediately  spread,  and  the  South  Side  was  ablaze;  and  now 
it  assumed  proportions  that  exceeded  in  magnitude  its  intensity 
thus  fur.  The  whole  South  Division  was  tu)W  thoroughly  alarmed, 
it  being  evident  that  not  only  the  entire  business  area  of  the  city 
must  luirn,  but  nearly  the  entire  North  Division  lay  in  the  track 
of  the  destroyer  iuits  irresistible  progress  before  tlie  wind.  Still 
a  ray  of  hope  was  left  to  the  Xorth-siders,  and  to  the  owners  of 
the  Tr'ihxtne  building  also,  which  was  sujiposed  to  be  lire  proof. 
This  hope  was  dispelled  two  hours  later,  as  will  a])]>ear  from  the. 
following  accoiint,  written  in  SheaTiau  &  Upton's  llistory,  from 
notes  as  they  viewed  the  scene  from  the  upper  wind(»ws  of  the 
Tribune  building:  ■  ' 

"  About  one  o'clock,  a  cloud  of  black  smoke  rose  in  tlie  south- 
west, which,  colored  by  the  luri<l  glare  of  the  tlames.  presented  a 
remarkable  picture.  Due  west  another  column  of  smoke  and 
tire  rose,  while  the  north  was  lighted  with  Hying  cinders  and 
destructive  brands.  Iti  ten  minutes  more,  the  whole  horizon  to- 
the  west,  as  far  a.i  could  l>e  seen  from  the  windows,  was  a  lire 
cloud  with  llames  leaping  uj)  along  the  whole  line,  just  showing 
their  heads  and  subsiding  from  view  like  tongues  of  snakes.  Five 
minutes  more  wrought  a  change.  Peal  after  peal  was  sounded 
from  the  Court  House  bell.  The  fire  was  on  La  Salle  street,  had 
swept  north,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  began  to  belch  forth 
smoke  and  dame  from  windows  and  ventilators.  The  east  wing 
of  the  Court  House  was  alight;  then  the  west  wing;  the  tower 
was  blazing  on  the  south  side,  and  at  two  o'clock  the  wludc  btiild- 
ingv.'as  in  a  sheet  of  Hame.  The  Chamber  of  Commcive  burned 
with  a  bright  steady  liame.  The  smoke  in  front  grew  denser  for 
unnnute  or  two,  and  then  bursting  into  a  blaze  from  Monroe  to 
Madison  streets,  proclaimed  that  Farwell  Hall  and  the  buildings 
iu)rth  and  south  of  it  were  on  tire.  At  2.10  o'clock  the  Coiirt 
House  tower  Wiis  a  gloriouL  sight.     At  2.15   o'clock  the  tower 


462  Tlie  Great  Fire  of  1871. 

:fell,  and  in  two  minutes  more  a  crash  announced  the  fall  of  the 
interior  of  the  building.  The  windows  of  the  oihce  were  hot,  and 
the  flames  i^ave  a  light  almost  dazzlinof  in  its  intensity.  It  be- 
oanie  evident  that  the  whole  block  from  Clark  to  Dearborn,  and 
from  Monroe  to  Madison,  must  go;  that  the  block  from  Madison  to 
AVashington  must  follow;  Porthmd  BKock  was  ablaze,  while  every- 
thing from  Clark  to  Dearborn,  on  Washington  street,  was  on  tire. 
At  2.r>0  the  tire  was  half-way  down  Madison  street;  the  wind 
blew  a  hurricane;  the  firebrands  were  hurled  along  the  ground 
with  incredible  for^ligainst  everything  that  stood  in  tlieir  way. 
Then  the  flames  shoTu])  in  the  rear  of  Ileynolds'  block,  and  the 
Tribune  buildinc:  seemed  doomed.  An  effort  was  made  to  save 
the  flies  and  other  valuables,  which  were  moved  into  the  com]H)s- 
ing  room.  Imt  tlie  l)uilding  stood  like  a  rock,  lashed  on  both  sides 
bv  raging  wavi's  of  flame,  and  it  was  abandoned.  It  was  a  Are 
proof  building;  and  there  were  not  a  few  who  expected  to  see  it 
stand  the  shock.  The  greatest  possibk^  anxietv  was  felt  for  it,  as 
it  was  the  key  to  the  wliole  block,  including  AEcVicker's  Theatre, 
and  ])rotected  State  street  and  AVabash  and  Michigan  avennes,  north 
of  ]\[adison  street.  When  the  walls  of  Reynoids'  l>lock  fell,  and 
Cobb's  l)uikling  v,as  no  more,  X\-f  ])rosp<^' ts  of  its  standing  were 
good.  Several  persons  were  u^  ;tairs  and  found  it  cool  an<l 
pleasant — ^(piite  a  refresliing  haven  from  the  hurricane  of  smoke, 
dust  ai;d  cinders  that  assailed  the  eyes. 

"Meanwhile  the  Are  had  swept  along  northward  and  eastward. 
The  Briggs  House,  the  Sherman  House,  the  Tremont  House,  had 
fallen  in  a  few  minutes.  The  bridges  from  Wells  to  Kush  stj-eet 
Mere  burning;  the  Northwestern  Depot  was  in  a  blaze,  and  from 
A''an  Buren  street  on  the  south,  far  over  into  the  north  side,  from 
the  river  to  Dearborn  street,  the  whole  country  was  a  mass  of 
smoke,  flames  and  ruin.  Tt  seemed  as  if  the  city  east  of  Dearborn 
street  and  to  the  river  would  be  save<l.  The  hope  was  strengtii- 
ened  when  the  walls  fell  of  Honore's  noble  block  without  ignit- 
ing that  standing  opposite.  The  vacant  lot  to  the  south  seemed 
to  protect  ,t,  and  at  seven  o'clock  on  Monday  morning  the  whole 
of  the  region  designated  was  eonsideretl  saved,  no  Are  being 
visible  except  a  smouldering  Are  in  the  barber's  shop  under  the 
Tribune  ofAce.  which  hi'ing  conAned  in  brick  walls,  was  not  con- 
sidered <langerous.  Every  eftbrt  M'as  made  to  <piench  it,  but 
the  water  works  liad  burned,  and  the  absence  of  water,  while  it 
announced  how  far  north  the  flames  had  reached,  forbade  any 
hope  of  quenching  the  Are  belov/. 

There  was  one  remarkable  turning  point  in  this  tire,  in  whicii 

•  everything  was  renuirkable;  and  tliat  was  at  Madison  street  bridge, 

where  every  ono  expected  to  see  the  Are  re-cross  to  the  west  side, 

and  commence  upon  a  new  path  of  destruction.     Directly  across 


:    :;      The  Great  Fire  of  1S71.  4t]3 

tin's  bridiifc  Avere  the  Oriental  Flonrinir  Mill^,  wliieli  were  saved 
from  clestruction  bv  tlie  immense  steam  f:trf^e  pnnij)  attached  to 
the  mill,  by  whieh  a  ])owerfnl  stream  of  water  was  thrown  upon 
the  exposed  property,  huiir  after  honr.  This  ]nimp  un<louhtedly 
■saved  the  West  l)ivision  from  a  terrible  conilaiijration.  for  if  tlie 
Oriental  Mills  had  burned,  the  combustible  nature  of  the  ad- 
joininiT  buildings  and  adjacent  lumber  yards  would  liave  insured 
a  scene  of  devastation  too  heart-sickening  for  contemplation. 

The  scene  presented  when  the  fire  was  at  its  height  in  the 
South  Division,  is  well  niirh  indescribable.  Thehuire  stone  and 
brick  structures  melted  before  the  tierceness  of  the  flam<\-^  as  a 
^now-Hake  melts  and  disa]>pears  i!i  water,  and  almost  as  (juickly. 
Six-story  buildings  wouhl  take  tire,  and  disappear  forever  from 
siffht.  in  live  minutes  bv  the  watch.  In  nearh' everv  street  the 
flames  W04il<l  enter  at  the  rears  of  buildings,  and  ap])ear  simulta- 
neously at  the  fronts.  For  an  instant  the  windows  would  redden, 
'  then  great  billowsof  fire  would  belch  out,  and  meeting  eacb  tether, 
shoot  up  into  the  air  a  vivid,  quivering  column  of  iiame.  and 
])oising  itself  in  awful  niiijesry.  hurl  itself  l»odilv  several  hundred 
feet  and  kindle  new  buildings.  The  intense  lieat  created  new 
currents  of  air.  The  general  direction  of  the  wind  was  from  the 
i«outhwest.  This  nuiin  current  carried  the  fire  straight  through 
the  city,  from  pouthwest  to  north-east,  cutting  a  swath  a  mile  in 
width,  and  then,  as  if  maddened  at  missing  any  of  its  prey,  it 
Avonld  turn  backward  in  its  frenzy  and  face  the  fierce  wind,  mow- 
ing one  hage  field  on  tlie  west  of  the  North  Division,  while  in 
the  South  Division  it  also  doubled  on  its  track  at  the  great  Un- 
ion Central  Depot,  and  burned  half  a  mile  southward  in  the 
very  teeth  of  the  gale — a  gale  which  blew  a  perfect  tornado,  and 
in  which  no  vessel  could  have  lived  on  the  lake.  The  flames 
sometimes  made  glowing  diagonal  arches  across  the  streets,  trav- 
ersed by  whirls  of  smoke.  At  times,  the  wind  would  seize  the 
entire  volume  of  fire  on  the  front  of  one  of  the  large  blocks,  de- 
tach it  entirely  and  hurl  it  in  every  direction,  in  fierce  masses  of 
flame,  leaving  the  building  as  if  it  had  been  untouched — for  an 
instant  only,  however,  f  )r  fresh  gusts  would  once  more  wrap 
them  in  sheets  of  fire.  Tlie  whole  air  was  filled  with  glowing 
I'inders.  looking  like  an  illuminated  snow  stjrin.  At  times  ca- 
pricious llurries  of  the  gale  would  seize  tliest^  flying  messengers 
of  destruction  and  dash  them  down  to  the  earth,  hurrying  tliem 
over  the  pavements,  with  lightning-like  rapidity,  firing  every- 
thing they  touched.  Intersperse*!  among  these  cinders  were 
larger  brands,  covered  with  Hame.  wiiich  the  wind  dashed 
through  windows  and  upon  awnings  and  roofs,  kindling  new 
tires.  Strange,  fantastic  fires  of  blue,  rod  and  green,  played 
along  the  ci>ruices  of  the  buildings.     On  the  bauk:i  of  the  river, 


4fi4  The  Great  Fire  of  187 1. 

red  hot  walls  fell  liissiiig  into  tlie  water,  ^^eiulinii;-  up  jjreat  col- 
umns of  sprav  and  exposinj?  the  fierce  wliite  furnace  of  heat, 
which  tliev  had  encloj^ed.  The  huge  piles  of  coal  emitted  dense 
hillows  of  smoke  which  hurried  ah)ni;-  far  above  the  flames  be- 
low. If  the  siijjht  was  grand  and  o^•erpowering,  the  sound  was 
no  less  so.  The  flames  crackled,  j^rowled  <uid  hissed.  The  lime 
stone,  of  which  many  of  the  buildings  were  (.'omposed,  as  si^on 
as  it  was  exposed  to  heat  flaked  ofl",  the  fragments  flew  in  every 
direction,  with  a  noise  like  that  of  continuous  discliargts  of  mus- 
ketry. Almost  every  instani,  was  added  the  dull,  heavy  thud  of 
falling  walls,  which  shook  the  earth,  lint  above  ail  these  sounds, 
there  was  one  other  which  was  terribly  fasciiuiting;  it  was  the 
steady  roar  of  the  advancing  flames — the  awful  diapason  in  this 
carnival  of  fire.  It  was  like  nothing  so  much  as  the  united  roar 
of  the  ocean  with  the  howl  of  the  blast  on  some  storui}',  rocky 
coast. 

Great  calamities  always  develop  latent  passions,  emotions,  and 
traits  of  chal•^u•ter,  hitherto  concealed.  In  this  case,  there  was  'a 
world-wide  diflerence  in  the  manner  in  whiv_'h  men  witnessed  the 
destruction  \^i  all  about  them.  Some  were  philosophical,  even 
merry,  and  witnessed  the  loss  of  their  own  projierty  with  a  calm 
shrug  of  the  shoulders,  although  the  loss  was  to  bring  u})on 
them  irretrieval)le  ruin.  Others  clenched  their  teeth  together, 
and  witnessed  the  sight  with  a  sort  of  grim  defiance.  Others, 
who  were  strong  men,  stood  in  tears,  and  some  became  fairly 
frenzied  with  excitement  an<l  rushed  about  in  an  aimless  manner, 
doing  exactly  what  they  would  not  have  done  in  their  cooler  mo- 
ments, and  almost  too  delirious  to  save  their  own  lives  from  the 
general  wreck.  Of  course,  the  utmost  distn-dcr  and  excitement 
prevailed,  for  nearly  every  one  was  in  s()nu\  degree  demoralized, 
and  in  the  absence  both  of  gas  and  water,  had  given  up  the  en- 
tire city  to  its  doom.  Mobs  of  men  and  w<mieu  rushe<l  wildly 
from  street  to  street,  screaming,  gesticulating,  and  shunting, 
crossing  each  others  ])aths,  and  intercepting  each  other  as  if  just 
escaped  from  a  mad  house.  The  yards  and  sidewalk  of  Michi- 
,gan  and  Wabash  avenues  for  a  distance  of  two  miles  south  of  the 
fire  limit  in  the  South  Division,  were  choked  with  household 
goods  of  t!very  description — the  contents  of  hovels,  and  the  con- 
tents of  aristocratic  residences,  huddled  together  '\\\  inextrica- 
ble confusion.  Elegant  ladies  who  hardly  supposed  themselves 
able  to  lift  the  weight  of  a  pincushion,  astonished  theuiselves  by 
dragging  trunks,  and  carrying  hea\'y  loads  of  pictures  and  orna- 
mentid  furniture  for  a  long  distance.  Some  adorned  themselves 
with  idl  their  jewelry,  for  the  purpose  of  saving  it,  and  strug- 
gled along  through  the  crowds,  perhaps  only  to  lose  it  at  the 
hands  of  some  ruffian.     Delicate  girls,  ivith  red  eyes  and  black- 


Tl,'  Great  Eire  of  1S71.  -K;.> 

ened  faces,  toiled,  hour  after  hour,  to  save  household  goods. 
Poor  women  staggered  along  with  their  arms  full  of  homely 
household  wares,  and  mattresses  i>n  their  heads,  which  sometimes 
took  lire  as  they  were  carrying  them.  Every  few  tteps  along  tlie 
avenues  were  little  piles  of  household  property,  or,  perhaps,  only 
a  trunk,  guarded  by  children,  some  '»f  whom  were  weeping,  and 
others  laughing  and  playing.  Here  w^s  a  man  sitting  upon 
what  he  had  saved,  bereft  of  his  senses,  looking  at  the  motley 
throng  with  staring,  vacant  eyes;  here,  a  woman,  weeping  and 
tearing  her  hair,  and  calling  for  her  children  in  utter  despair; 
here,  children,  hand-in-hand,  separated  from  their  parents,  and 
crying  with  the  heart-breaking  sorrow  of  childhood;  here,  a  wo- 
man, kneeling  on  the  hot  ground,  and  praying,  with  her  crucifix 
before  her.  One  family  had  saved  a  coffee-pot  and  chest  of  draw- 
ers, and  raking  together  the  falling  eml)ers  in  the  street,  were 
boiling  their  coffee  as  cheerily  as  if  at  home.  Barrels  of  liquor 
were  rolled  into  the  streets  from  the  saloons.  The  heads  were 
speedily  knocked  in,  and  men  and  boys  drank  to  excess,  and 
staggered  about  the  streets.  Some  must  have  miserably  perished 
in  the  flames,  while  others  wandered  away  into  the  unburned  dis- 
trict, and  sk  pt  a  drunken  sleep  upon  the  sidewalks  and  in  (h^or- 
yards.  Tiiieves  pursue<l  their  profession  ^v'ith  perfect  Impunitv. 
Lake  street  and  Clark  street  were  rich  with  treasure,  and  hordes 
of  thieves  entered  the  stores,  and  flung  out  goods  to  their  fel- 
lows, who  bore  them  away  without  opposition.  Wabash  avenue 
was  literally  choked  up  with  goods  of  every  description.  Everv 
one  who  had  been  forced  from  the  burning  portion  of  the  divis- 
ion had  brought  some  articles  with  them,  and  been  forced  to 
drop  some,  or  all  of  them.  Valuable  oil  paintings,  books,  pet 
animals,  instrument*,  toys,  mirrors,  bedding,  and  ornamental  and 
useliil*  articles  of  every  kind,  were  trampled  under  foot  by  the 
hurrying  crowds.  The  streets  leading  southward  from  the  fire 
were  jammed  with  vehicles  of  every  description,  all  driven  along 
at  top  speed.  Not  only  the  goods  which  were  deposited  in  the 
streets  took  fire,  Imt  wagon  loads  of  stuff  in  transit,  also  kindled, 
and  the  drivers  were  obliged  to  cut  the  traces  to  save  the  animals. 
There  was  fire  overhead,  everywhere,  not  only  on  the  low,  red 
clouds,  which  rolled  along  the  roofs,  but  in  the  air  itself  filled 
with  millions  of  blazing  fagots,  that  carried  destruction  wherever 
they  fell.  Those  who  did  rescue  anything  from  the  burning 
buildings,  were  obliged  to  defend  it  at  the  risk  of  their  lives. 
Expressmen  and  owners  of  every  description  of  wagons,  were 
extortionate  in  their  demands,  asking  from  twenty  to  fifty  dollars 
for  conveying  a  small  load  a  few  blocks.  Even  then  there  was 
no  surety  that  the  goods  would  reach  their  place  of  destination, 
as  they   were  often   followed   by  howling  crowds,    who  would 


466  TJte  Great  Fire  of  iG71 

snatch  tlie  goods  trom  the  wagons.  Sometimes,  thieves  got  pos- 
session of  vehicles,  and  drove  oft"  witli  rich  loads  of  dry  goods, 
jewelry,  or  merchandise,  to  out-of-the-way  places." 

As  early  as  three  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  the  fire 
attacked  the  North  Side.  It  has  not  been  definitely  known 
whei-e  it  first  began,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  Water  Works,  a 
mile  distant  from  any  portion  of  the  blazing  South  Side,  were 
among  the  first  l>uildings  visited;  and  their  speedy  destruction, 
cutting  oft'  the  wjiter  supply,  all  hopes  of  extinguishing  the  fire 
fied.  Two  large  elevators  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  wei-e 
also  in  flames  immediately  afterwards,  and  the  wretched  inhab- 
itants living  east  of  Franklin  street,  beheld  with  dismay  the  ap- 
proach of  the  destroyer  both  in  front  and  rear.  Suddenly  the 
entire  po]>ulation  seized  the  most  valuable  thinga  they  coidd 
carry,  and  fled,  either  to  the  lake  shore,  or  westward  across  the 
river,  or  direct] a- before,  the  ])ursuing  enemy,  northwardly  out 
Olark  or  Wells  Street.     Says  Mr.  Colbert: 

"A  terrible  panic  ensued.  There  was  sudden  screaming  and 
dashing  about  of  half-clad  Mumeii,  gathering  up  such  valuables 
as  could  be  suddenly  snatched.  There  was  frantic  rushing  into 
the  streets  and  shouting  for  vehicles.  There  was  anxious  inquiry 
and  anon  distressed  cries  for  absent  ]»rotectors — a  large  poi'tiou 
of  the  men  being  on  the  far  side  of  the  river,  and  in  many  cases 
unable  to  reach  their  homes.  Then  there  was  a  pell-mell  rush 
through  the  streets,  some  of  the  wild  tar-es  i)ushing  eagerly  in 
this  direction  and  others  <piite  as  eage'\v  in  the  opposite;  and 
children  screaming;  and  shouts  resoxmding;  and  brands  falling 
in  showers;  and  truckmen  running  each  other  down;  and  halt- 
drunken,  wholly  desperate  rutfians  peering  into  doors  and  seizing 
valuables,  and  insulting  women;  and  oaths  from  lips  unused  to 
them,  as  hot  as  the  flames  which  leaped  and  crackled  near  by; 
and  prayers  from  maidy  breasts  where  they  had  slumbered  since 
childhood;  and  every  other  sign  of  turmoil  and  terror." 

Those  who  took  refuge  on  the  sands  of  the  lake-shore,  found 
it  a  treacherous  asylum.  There  was  no  escape  to  the  northward, 
for  the  narrow  passes  farther  in  that  direction  were  a  sweltering 
current  of  hot  air  pouring  over  the  crested  margin  of  the  lake, 
like  the  vomiting  of  a  furnace..  Meantime  the  heat  soon  began 
to  be  almost  insupportable  where  they  were,  and  in  this  extrem- 
ity, at  places,  they  were  forced  into  the  shalK>w  waters  of  the  lake 
to  protect  themselves  from  l)nrning  till  they  could  be  rescued  in 
boats. 

By  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  IHh,  the  fire  had  burned 
out.  Its  jtrogress  against  the  wiiul  on  the  South  Side  was  ar- 
rested by  theeft'orts  of  private  citizens  and  a  small  military  force 
under  Gen,  Sheridan;  but  ou  the  North  Side  it  burned  as  long 


The  Great  Fire  of  1871.  46T 

•asbnildiniys  stood  before  it,  and  died  away  on  the  open  jirairie  for 
"vvant  of  fiiel. 

In  its  early  stages,  after  the  flames  had  crossed  the  river,  and 
Avere  rapidly  devouring  the  business  portion  of  the  city  in  the 
South  Division.  Lind  Block,  on  the  west  side  of  Market  Street, 
between  Randolph  and  Lake,  by  dint  of  great  exertion  on  the  part 
of  some  of  its  tenants,  successfully  resisted  them.  The  well- 
known  house  of  Fuller  &  Fuller,  occupied  the  central  portions  of 
this  block;  and  in  reply  to  the  writer's  incpiiry  how  it  was  save<l, 
Mr.  O.  F.  Fuller  stated  that  while  the  Are  was  burning  on  the 
West  lide.  and  approaching  towards  them,  they  took  the  precau- 
tion to  provide  an  abundant  supply  of  water  on  each  floor  of 
their  jiremises.  and  constantly  applied  it  to  the  most  exposed 
portions  of  the  building  when  the  Are  reached  their  immediate 
vicinity,  having  previously  cut  away  wooden  signs  or  any  other 
conihustihle  nniterial  outside.  Duriii":  the  greatest  heat  the 
outside  walls  of  the  block  were  too  hot  to  bear  the  hand  on,  but 
still  every  man  remained  at  his  post  inside  on  each  floor,  subject 
to  the  order  of  a  sentinel,  whose  business  it  was  to  call  them 
away  if  the  building  ignited.  Three  times  a  retreat  was  ordered, 
under  an  impression  that  combustion  had  taken  ])lace,  but  hap- 
pily this  impression  was  a  false  alarm,  growing  out  of  the  lurid 
glare  from  adjacent  flames,  reflected  from  the  windows  of  the 
buihling,  and  each  time  the  men  returned  to  their  posts,  where 
they  continued  to  ply  water  to  the  heated  windows,  while  was 
raging 

"  Fiir  to  ri^ht  of  them, 
Fire  to  left  of  them. 
Fire  in  front  of  them." 

Said  Mr.  Fuller:  "The  fire,  viewed  from  the  roof  of  Lind  Bloclc 
at  this  time,  presented  phases  of  thrilling  interest.  At  two  o'clock 
a.m..  Market  street  and  the  ap]>roaches  to  Lake  and  Randolph 
street  bridges  were  crowded  with  loaded  vehicles  huriying  to  the 
West  Side,  and  this  retreat  grew  into  a  stampede  when  the  Gar- 
den City  hotel,  and  the  buildings  on  the  East  side  of  Market 
street,  from  Madison  to  South  Water,  ignited.  After  burning 
fiercely  for  but  a  brief  space  of  time,  they  fell  in  quick  succession 
in  the  general  ruin." 

The  next  morning  when  the  light  of  the  sun  was  piercing 
through  the  smoke  and  flames  that  now  enshrouded  the  entire 
business  portion  of  the  South  Division,  there  stood  Lind  Block, 
31  solitary  relict  of  its  former  grandeur.  Beyond  it,  toward  the 
East,  the  eye  could  catch  transient  glimpses  of  many  a  grim 
old  ruin  in  its  ragged  deformity,  amidst  the  accumulating 
clouds  of  smoke  that  rose  to  the  sky  in  dissolving  forms,  and  told 


468  The  Great  Fire  of  1871. 

the  tale  of  destruction.  Besides  Lind  Block  in  the  South  Divisinn^. 
the  house  of  Mahlon  B.  Ogden,  in  the  central  truck  of  the  tire 
in  tlie  North  Division,  was  saved,  while  all  else  around  it  was- 
left  in  ashes. 

Mr.  Ogden,  shortly  after  the  tire,  informed  the  writer  that  he 
remained  in  his  honse  as  lopg  as  he  could  without  heinsj  sur- 
ronnded  bv  fire,  when  he.  with  his  familv,  retreated  wil;h  tin- 
crowd;  but  that  he  kept  the  roof  of  his  house  covered  with  wet 
carpets  while  he  was  in  it,  and  it  beino^  in  the  inside  of  a  square, 
with  trees  all  around,  as  if  by  a  miracle  it  did  not  burn. 

No  attempt  will  here  be  made  to  record  personal  incidents  ot 
the  lire.  These  are  almost  infinite,  and  their  records  may  be 
found  in  the  several  large  volumes  published  immediately  after 
the  lire,  but  the  following  account  of  the  action  of  the  city  au- 
thorities, taken  from  the  lleport  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid 
Society,  is  aii  historical  document  which  shows  the  elastic  force 
of  the  people  of  Chicago  in  their  promptness  to  grapple  with  the 
duties  before  them : 

'•  The  homeless  people  of  the  South  Side  were  for  the  most 
part  received  into  the  abodes  of  their  more  fortunate  neighbors. 
or  taken  to  the  hearts  and  hospitalities  of  those  to  whom  a  day 
before  they  were  utter  strangers,  Mithout  formalities  or  ceremonies, 
for  a  kindred  sorrow  wliich  had  left  no  human  interest  untouched 
had  done  its  work. 

"  Those  of  the  Xorth  Division  had  betaken  themselves  for  the 
night  to  the  sands  of  the  lake  shore,  to  Lincoln  and  other  small 
parks,  and  the  Jprairies.  Comparatively  few  had  foiind  shelter 
for  the  night. 

•'Those  of  the  West  Division  who  were  left  homeless  were  foi* 
the  most  part  sheltered  in  the  churches  and  school-houses,  and 
on  the  prairies  on  the  northwest  of  the  city.  Comparatively  few 
of  those  who  had  fled  before  the  flames,  had  tasted  food  since 
early  Sunday  evening,  and  hunger  came  to  them  to  add  its  terrors 
to  those  of  exposure,  and  in  many  instances  apprehension  ot 
death. 

"  And  then  came  the  greatest  terror  of  all,  the  consciousness  of 
the  tact  that  families  had  been  separated;  husbands  and  wives, 
parents  and  children  were  missing.  The  flight  had  been  so 
rapid,  and  in  all  directions  the  thoroughfares  had  been  so  ob- 
structed, and  in  some  cases  utterly  impassable,  l)y  the  crowding 
of  vehicles  and  masses  of  people,  and  the  city  itself  a  wave  ot 
fire — it  is  no  marvel  that  under  these  circumstances,  thousands 
for  the  time  were  lost  sight  of,  and  became  lonely  wanderers,  and 
that  hundreds  perished  in  the  flames. 

"The  seeds  of  permanent  or  temporary  disease  sown,  the  bodily 
suffering  and  mental  anguish  endured,  can  never  liave  statistical 
computation,  or  adequate  description. 


The  Great  Fire  of  1871.  460 

"The  bodies  of  tlie  dead,  not  less  than  tliree  hundred  in  nnniher, 
who  perished  in  the  flames,  were  given  interment  at  the  county 
burying  ground. 

"The  city  authorities  were  prompt  in  tlieir  endeavors  to  l)ring 
order  out  t»t'  the  chaos  which,  in  some  measure,  we  have  assayed 
to  describe.  The  Mayor  telegraphed  to  neighboring  cities,  iirst 
of  all,  for  engines  to  help  stay  the  ravages  of  the  lire,  and  for 
bread  to  feed  the  homeless  and  destitute." 

A  council  of  city  officers  was  held,  who  issued  and  signed  the 
following,  which  was  the  first  pruclaination  from  the  Mayor  and 
Oovernment: 

PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  In  the  providence  of  God,  to  whose  will  we  humbly  submit,  a 
terrible  calamity  has  befallen  our  city,  wliich  demands  of  us  our  best  etTortsfor 
the  preservation  nf  order  and  the  relief  of  sutfering: 

Bt  it  knoirn,  Tliat  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  city  of  Chicago  are  hereby 
pledged  for  the  necessarj-  expenses  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering. 

Public  order  will  be  preserved.  The  i)olice  and  special  police  now  being  ap- 
pointed will  be  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  the  peace  and  the  protection 
of  property. 

AH  officers  and  men  of  the  Fire  Department  and  Health  Department  will  act 
as  special  jwl  icemen  without  further  notice. 

The  Mayor  and  Comptroller  will  give  vouchers  for  all  supplies  furnished  by 
tlie  diflerent  relief  committees. 

The  headcjuarters  of  tlie  City  Government  will  be  at  the  Congregational 
Church,  corner  of  West  Washington  and  Ann  streets. 

xVll  persons  are  warned  against  any  act  tending  to  endanger  property.  Per- 
sons caught  in  any  dei)redation  will  be  immediately  arrested. 

With  the  help  of  God,  order  and  peace  and  private  propertj'  will  be  pre- 
serAed. 

The  City  Government  and  the  committee  of  citizens  pledge  themselves  to  the 
community  to  protect  them,  and  prepare  the  way  for  a  restoration  of  public 
and  private  welfare. 

It  is  believed  the  fire  has  spent  its  force,  and  all  will  soon  be  well. 
li.  B.  Masox,  Mayor. 
Geokge  Taylor,  Comptroller. 

(By  R.  B.  Mason.) 
Cif  ARi-Es  C.  P.  IIoi.DEX,  President  Common  Council. 
T.  B.  Browx.  President  Board  of  Police. 

October  9, 1871,  2  p.  m. 

Promptly  following  the  above  proclamation,  and  growing  out 
of  the  exigencies  of  the  day,  or  the  hour,  as  it  came,  others  were 
issued;  and  no  better  account  of  the  action  of  the  mimiciiial  gov- 
ernment can  b§  given  than  that  which  is  contained  in  these  sev- 
en\\  official  })apers,  and  therefore,  without  comment,  wliich  would 
be  needless,  the  text  of  these  proclamation:>,  which  in  some  in- 
stances wen;  only  fly-sheets,  is  herein  given. 

BREAD  ORDINANCE.— NOTICE. 

Chicago.  October  10,1871. 
The  following  ordinance  was  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Common  Coimcil  of 
Jthe  city  of  Chicago,  on  the  10th  day  of  October,  A.  D.,  1»7I : 


470  Th,   Gi'mt  FJre  »f  1871. 

An  Ordinance 

Be  it  ordained  by  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Cliicaffo : — 

Section  1.  That  the  price  of  bread  in  the  City  of  Chicago  for  tlie  next  ten- 
days  is  hereby  fixed  and  established  at  eif/M  (8)  cents  per  fo*// of  twelve  ounces, 
and  at  the  same  rate  for  all  loaves  of  less  or  greater  weight. 

Sec.  2.  Any  person  selling  or  attempting  to  sell  any  bread  within  the  limits 
of  the  City  cf  Ciiicajfo,  within  said  ten  days,  at  a  greater  price  than  is  fixed  in 
this  ordinance,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  ten  (10;  dollars  for  each  and  every 
offense,  to  be  collected  as  other  jjeualties  for  violation  of  City  Ordinances. 

Sec.  3.  This  Ordinance  shall  l)e  in  full  force  and  efi'ect  from  and  after  its 
passage. 

Appruced  October  10,  1871. 

Attest:  R.  B.  3IAS0N,  Mai/or. 

C.  T.  HoTCHKiss,  Gitj/  Clerk. 

MAYOR'S  PROCLAMATION— ADVISORY  AND  PRECAUTIONARY. 

1.  All  citizens  are  requested  to  exercise  great  caution  in  the  use  of  fire  in 
their  dwellings,  and  not  to  u.se  kerosene  lights  at  present,  as  the  city  will  be 
without  a  full  supply  of  water  for  jirobably  two  or  three  days. 

2.  The  following  bridges  are  passable,  to  wit:  All  bridges  (except  Van  Bii- 
len  and  Adams  streets)  from  Lake  Street  south,  and  all  bridges  over  the  North 
Branch  of  the  Chicago  River. 

3.  All  good  citizens  Avho  are  willing  to  serve  are  requested  to  report  at  the 
corner  of  Ann  and  Washington  stieets,  to  be  sworn  in  as  special  policemen. 

Citizens  are  requested  to  organize  a  police  for  each  block  in  the  city,  and  tty 
send  reports  of  such  organ  izaUon  to  the  police  headquarters,  corner  of  Union 
and  West  Madison  streets. 

All  persons  needing  food  will  be  relieved  by  applying  at  the  following 
places: — 

At  the  comer  of  Ann  and  Washington ;  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Round- 
house. 

M.  S.  R.  R.— Twenty-second  Street  station. 

C.  B.  &  Q  R.  R.— Canal  Street  Depot. 

St.  L.  &  A.  R.  R.— Near  Sixteenth  Street. 

C.  &  N.  W.  R.  R. — Corner  of  Kinzie  and  Canal  streets. 

All  the  public  school-houses,  and  at  nearly  all  the  churches. 

4.  Citizens  are  requested  to  avoid  passing  through  the  burnt  districts  until 
the  dangerous  walls  left  standing  can  be  leveled. 

5.  All  saloons  are  ordered  to  l)e  closed  at  9  p.  m.  every  day  for  one  week, 
under  a  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  license. 

6.  The  Common  Council  have  this  day  by  ordinance  fixed  the  price  of  bread 
at  eight  (8)  cents  per  loaf  of  twelve  ounces,  and  at  the  same  rate  for  loaves  of  a  less 
or  gn  .Iter  weight,  and  affixed  a  penalty  of  ten  dollars  for  selling,  or  attempting 
to  sell,  bread  at  a  greater  rate  within  the  next  ten  days. 

7.  Any  hackman.  expressman,  drayman,  or  teamster  charging  more  than  the 
regular  fare,  will  have  his  license  revoked. 

All  citizens  are  requested  to  aid  in  preserving  the  peace,  good  onler,  and 
gootl  name  of  our  city. 
Oct.  10, 1871.  R.  B.  MASON,  ^f,lyor. 

In  addition  to  tlie  action  of  tlie  city  autliorities,  Lieut.  General 
P.  H.  Sheridan,  wliose  military  lieadquarterswere  here,  at  the  ear- 
nest request  of  Mr.  Mason,  the  Mayor,  and  many  prominent  citizens 
of  Chicago,  consented  to  declare  ntartial  law  for  the  preservation: 
of  order  throughout  tlie  city,  as  well  as  to  protect  from  tire  what 
remained  of  it,  and  on  the  11th  of  October  a  proclamation  was. 


The  Great  Fire  of  1X71.  471 

issued  l\v  liiiu  to  this  cftect.  T\v(»  days  previous  to  tliis,  wliile 
tlie  tire  was  still  s]>rea<lint^  on  the  North  Side,  he  liad  ordered  a 
compauy  of  frontier  .soldiers  from  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan.,  to 
be  sent  by  rail  to  Chicago,  and  as  soon  as  they  arrived  they  were 
detailed  in  squads  of  about  twenty  each  to  guard  the  various 
places  along  the  outer  edge  of  the  burnt  district  that  needed  ])ro- 
teetion.  Throuwhout  the  South  Division  burnt,  were  nianv  l>ank 
vaults  still  buried  beneath  heated  bricks  and  stone,  in  an  uncertain 
condition.  At  night  the  soldiers  detailed  to  guard  these  were 
quartered  on  the  premises  of  Messrs.  Fuller  &  luller.  which  had 
been  saved  from  the  general  wreck  as  akeady  told.  And  in  con- 
versation with  Mr.  Fuller,  the  informant  of  the  writer,  as  to  tlio 
fidelity  Avitli  which  they  executed  their  trust,  the  praise  which  he 
gave  these  noble  soldiers  should  not  be  omitted.  They  were 
strictly  temperate,  many  of  them  teetotalers,  and  some  of  them 
old  weatlier-beaten  veterans  as  noble  in  sentiment  as  they  Mere 
brave  and  faithful,  and  an  honor  to  the  country  in  whose  service 
tliev  had  enlisted.  The  debt  of  jrratitude  which  Chicat;o  owes 
them  challenges  this  acknowledgement. 

The  extent  of  the  tire  may  be  summed  up  in  the  following 
statement,  which  has  been  carefully  taken  from  various  records 
of  the  event:  On  the  West  Side,  the  burnt  district  measured 
194  acres,  and  the  numljer  of  burnt  buildings  was  about  50o, 
most  of  them  being  of  an  inferior  class. 

In  the  South  Division  460  acres  were  burned  over,  on  which 
stood  0,650  buildings,  which  constituted  substantially  the  banks, 
wholesale  stores,  hotels,  and  the  geiieral  heavy  business  blocks 
of  the  city  included,  with  many  of  its  first-class  private  dwell- 
ings, added  to  which  was  a  district  in  the  southwest  portion, 
where  many  poor  people  lived.  In  the  North  Division  1.470 
acres  were  burnt  over,  and  13.300  Imildinii-s  destroved,  leaving 
but  about  four  per  cent  of  tluj  buildings  standing  in  the  entire 
division,  and  those  of  the  poorest  class.  The  total  number  of 
acres  burnt  over  was  2,124,  and  of  buildings  destroved  about 
17,450.  Al)out  100,000  people  were  rendered  homeless,  which 
included  guests  at  hotels  and  boarding-houses.  Of  these, 
some  thousands  were  gathered  in  scjuads  on  the  prairies  otitside 
the  eitv  on  the  morninir  of  the  9th,  and  not  a  few  made  the 
earth  their  bed  on  the  night  of  the  loth.  Every  train  of  rail- 
road cars  that  left  the  city  for  several  days  was  loaded  to  its  ut- 
most with  the  fugitives.  Tiie  most  of  them  had  no  means  where- 
with to  pay  their  fare.  In  such  cases,  the  railroad  companies, 
with  exemplary  generosity,  carried  them  free  till  the  Relief  and 
Aid  Society  had  organized,  to  make  provision  for  the  sixtferers 
On  the  10th  relief  began  to  come  in  from  the  country  towns  near 
by.     Never  before  had   their   sympathies   been   so  awakened. 


4T2  Thi'  Gnat  F'ln'  of   1871. 


Motlu'i's.  in  their  imagination,  heard  little  chiUlren  crving  for 
hruad  on  the  open  ])rairie,  and  saw  whole  families  lying  on  the 
ground,  hereft  of  everything  but  natural  claims  on  humanity, 
and  the  next  trains  that  went  to  the  city  were  loaded  with  free 
hread.  milk,  blankets,  and  such  other  things  as  the  body  stands 
most  in  need  of  when  stripped  of  everything  but  its  wants. 

To  detail  all  the  means  used  to  relie'.e  the  immediate  wants  of 
the  victims  would  be  inconsistent  with  time,  and  space  to  record 
them.  It  was  one  of  those  great  waves  that  roll  over  mankind, 
burying  them  so  deep  beneath  its  crest  as  to  drown  out  sellish- 
ness  for  the  time,  and  open  an  unfrequented  path  to  many  hearts. 
Dormant  passions  and  affections  were  awakened  into  being,  that 
else  mi<;lithave  slumbered  and  died  ere  thev  had  blossomed  into 
life  and  beauty.  Like  a  Hash,  the  cry  of  distress  went  thrt)Ugh 
the  world,  and  gathered  force  as  it  traveled.  Xews  of  the  de- 
struction of  armies  in  one  great  chasm  of  death  had  been  told 
before  till  recitals  of  such  events  palled  upon  the  senses;  but  this 
was  a  great  social  disaster,  visited  upon  effeminate  grace  and 
heauty,  quick  and  sudden,  dashing  ambition  to  the  ground,  and 
withering  life's  sweetest  hopes;  sundering  the  dearest  associations 
and  rttbbing  the  he  irt  of  home  treasures,  so  highly  prized  by  the 
most  refined  people. 

From  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  Xew  York,  Boston,  and 
nearly  all  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States,  and  from  many 
cities  in  England,  Germany  and  France,  came  prompt  relief. 
The  most  of  the  cash  sent  from  these  places  was  taken  into  the 
custody  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  and  bv  them  dis- 
pensed  to  the  sufferers  with  as  provident  a  care  as  could  have 
heen  expected  under  such  a  pressure. 

The  amounts  contributed  from  the  world,  (the  great  field  of 
charity  for  this  occasion),  was  l)ut  little  short  of  §3,000,000.  The 
number  of  lives  lost  in  the  fire  can  never  be  told.  It  has  been 
estimated  to  exceed  300.  The  charred  remains  of  many  were 
found,  but  no  such  iniml)er  as  this. 

The  amount  of  })ropertv  destroyed  in  the  fire,  by  a  careful  es- 
timate by  Elias  Colbert,  was  §1 9:2,000,000.  Not  more  than  one- 
lourth  of  this  was  covered  by  insurance,  and  of  the  amounts  in- 
sured, not  more  than  fifty  per  cent  was  paid,  some  insurance 
companies  not  j^aying  more  than  ten  per  cent,  while  others  paid 
in  full. 

The  heads  of  families  and  business  portion  of  the  hundred 
thousand  victims  of  the  fire  may  be  divided  into  several  classes. 
The  portion  of  them  whose  wealth  was  in  stocks  or  bonds  had 
lost  nothing  but  their  ink-stands  and  writing-desks,  and  the  op- 
portunities now  offered  for  speculation,  seemed  to  give  promise 
of  an  abundant  harvest  out  of  the  situation.     Of  the  merchants 


473  The  Great  F'we  of  187 1. 

mIio  had  hotli  capital  and  credit  yet  in  rep^erve,  to  hegln  anew,  a 
])i'0!S})ect  o])ened  for  business  perha])s  nevej*  before  eijualed.  To 
those  merchants  wlio  had  lost  everythini;,  little  consolation  could 
come,  and  yet  many  of  these,  yraiiing  themselves  of  an  untar- 
nished reputation,  immediately  bef^an  again  on  credit,  and  not  a 
few  of  them  made  a  success  of  it.  Out  of  the  recoil  that  came 
from  such  an  overwhelming  calamity  (j[uickly  sprang  up  a  buoy- 
ant feelin|f  in  the  minds  of  everyone.  No  timid  counsels  ]»re- 
vailed.  liediv'ivnx  was  the  watchword.  Dimension  stone,  brick, 
mortar,  lime,  marble,  red  sandstone,  granite,  cement,  iron  2)illars. 
girders,  floor  tile,  sand,  glass,  joist,  scantling  and  boards  were  at 
a  ]»remium.  Autumn  hung  on  into  the  winter  months,  andflre- 
proof  buildings  sprang  up  rapidly  amidst  the  desolations  of  the 
burnt  district.  Meantime,  while  these  were  in  course  of  construc- 
tion, every  empty  place  on  the  West  Side,  and  far  out  in  the 
South  Division,  was  rented  at  high  figures,  and  frequently  might 
be  found  the  most  enterprising  merchants  doing  business  in  some 
dingy,  cavernous  quarters  on  the  West  Side,  that  for  years  before 
tlie  tire  had  grown  moldy  for  the  want  of  tenants.  For  several 
months,  Canal  street,  between  Lake  and  Madison,  was  the  center 
of  business.  Here  the  newspapers  set  up  their  presses,  and  by 
<lint  of  courage  and  resolution  to  be  found  nowhere  outside  of 
Chicago,  soon  reproduced  their  respective  sheets,  undiminished 
in  size  and  unctious  with  grit.  All  the  while  capital  flowed  into 
Chicago,  and  the  building  mania  was  at  fever  heat.  Nobody 
seemed  to  think  it  could  be  overdone.  They  did  not  stop  to  con- 
sider that  the  improved  class  of  buildings  which  were  being  sub- 
stituted for  the  old  ones  would  aflbrd  convenience  and  room  for 
a  greatly  increased  amount  of  business.  Add  to  this  the  extra 
room  for  business  where  private  houses  had  been  burnt,  close  by 
the  busiicss  portions  of  Chicago,  which  would  never  be  replaced, 
on  account  of  their  proximity  to  the  turmoil  of  a  commercial 
emporium,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  an  unnecessarily  large  area 
was  left  open  for  the  wants  of  l)usiness.  These  conditions  caused 
a,  temporary  lull  in  building  up  the  burnt  district  after  the  work 
had  been  grc>in<i:  on  two  years,  for  which  reason  there  are  still 
(1881)  many  vacant  lots  where  the  moldering  walls  of  old  build- 
ings, burnt  in  the  Are,  stand  as  reminders  of  th5  event;  but  no 
great  length  of  time  can  now  transpire  till  the  recent  increasing 
demand  tor  more  stores  and  oftices,  as  well  as  a  demand  beyond 
the  present  supply  for  private  dwellings,  will  not  only  fill  up  va- 
cant lots  in  the  burnt  aistrict,  but  enlarge  the  area  of  the  city. 


474        •  Grammar  of  Nanus. 

.'.■>/S     - 

GRAMMAR  OF   AMERICAN   NAMES. 

"When  we  look  over  the  map  of  Asia,  except  in  Asia  Minor^ 
the  cradle  of  Christianity,  we  see  few  names  of  which  the  ordi- 
nary English  scholar  knows  their  derivatiuu  or  their  history,  but 
on  the  iiiiip  cf  Europe,  especially  in  England,  the  case  is  differ- 
ent; for  here  grew  np  a  civilization  directly  inherited  from 
Grecian,  Roman,  Norman,  Saxon,  Magyar  and  Celtic  sources, 
and  its  proper  nam^^s  have  their  origin  from  history  and  biogra- 
phy, familiar  to  all  who  are  well  read  in  our  popular  literature. 
Hence  the  eye  rests  with  far  more  interest  <n\  the  map  of  Europe 
than  that  of  Asia,  and  the  memory  is  less  tasked  to  retain  names 
on  the  former  than  the  latter. 

Turning  from  both  of  these  to  the  Map  of  America,  the  mind  of 
the  American  scholar  is  delighted  with  the  sight  of  household 
nomenclature,  comparatively  speaking,  as  the  versatile  sources 
from  which  our  geographical  names  have  been  drawn  comprise 
the  most  familiar  names  of  Grecian  and  Roman  antiquity,  as 
well  as  from  ancient  Britian,  medieval  and  modern  English 
sources;  to  which  may  be  added  names  to  perpetuate  the  mem- 
ory of  the  Fathers  of  our  Republic,  and  battle-fields  of  Amei-ican 
pride.  Besides  all  these,  our  numerous  names  of  Indian  origin, 
rich  in  native  beauty,  the  chief  value  of  which  grows  out  of  the 
fact  that  they  give  us  a  key  to  meanings  attached  to  free  and  easy 
vocal  utterances,  or,  in  other  words,  to  natural  language,  School- 
craft, as  well  as  others  who  have  studied  Indian  language,  state 
that  it  admits  of  a  perfect  grammuLical  analysis,  and  that  it  ex- 
presses social  conditions  and  affections  with  much  impressment, 
free  from  hyperbole  or  affectation  Of  course  it  is  destined  soon 
to  becouie  extinct,  but  while  this  is  true,  let  us  cherish  what  re- 
mains of  it  in  its  application  to  our  geography,  and  our  history 
especially,  as  it  has  imj^arted  to  it  a  touch  of  vocal  harmony  not 
found  in  the  grammaticiil  geography  of  fiTiy  other  country,  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  in  no  part  of  America  have  so- 
many  Indian  names  baen  retained  as  in  the  North  West;  and,  to 
make  the  most  of  these  valuable  relics,  the  following  article  from 
Mr.  Haines,  who  has  given  this  subject  considerable  attention^ 
has  been  solicited: 


Indian  JYameSo  i"*^ 


INDIAN  NAMES. 

BY  E.  M.  HAINES. 

Whilst  the  red  race  of  North  America  arc  fast  disappearing 
before  the  inarch  of  civilization,  they  have  left  to  ns  a  perpetua! 
reminder  of  their  former  presence  in  the  land  through  the  multi- 
tude of  local  names  applied  to  rivers,  lakes,  towns,  counties, 
states,  and  localities  of  various  descriptions,  the  origin  and 
meaning  of  which  is  becoming  a  subject  of  interesting  inquirv. 

In  preparing  an  article  on  this  subject,  at  the  reqiiesr.  of  Mr» 
Blanchard,  for  his  work  concerning  the  discovery  and  conquests 
of  the  Norlhwest,  I  can  only  regret  that  other  engagements  have 
prevented  me  from  pursuing  the  subject  to  that  extent  and  as 
fully  as  its  importance  would  seem  to  demand.  I  came  to  Chi- 
cago in  early  3^outh,  while  the  country  about  was  still  in  posses- 
sion of  the  native  inhabitants.  The  Indian  language  was  heard 
in  every  direction,  and  M'as  indeed  the  prevailing  language.  The 
principal  trade  was  with  the  Indians,  in  conducting  which  their 
language  was  the  medium  of  communication.  This  afforded  me 
an  opportunity  of  satisfying  a  boyish  curiosity  of  learning  some- 
thing of  this  language  as  spoken  by  the  Pottawattomies,  then 
the  prevailing  tribe  in  the  vicinity,  which  in  after  life  led  to  a 
more  full  investigation  into  the  various  Indian  languages  of  the 
country. 

The  popular  idea  is  that  these  Indian  names,  or  those  which 
are  taken  to  be  such,  are  genuine  names  and  possess  some  oppro- 
priate  signification;  but  whoever  will  take  the  trouble  to  investi- 
gate in  this  regard,  will  find  much  in  this  notion  that  is  erroneous. 
This  not  being  a  written  language,  there  iswanting^a  permanent 
standard  of  pronunciation  ;  hence,  in  transferring  Indian  names 
into  our  literature  they  have  been  liable  to  undergo  material 
changes  in  their  sounds,  so  much  so  in  a  large  proportion  of  in- 
stances, that  the  original  intention  can  scarcely  be  determined 
with  any  degree  of  certainty.  As  an  example  in  this  respect,  an. 
instance  is  afforded,  among  others,  concerning  the  name  of  a 
locality  on  the  southern  border  of  Lake  Superior,  where  a  point 
of  land  extends  into  the  lake  for  a  distance  beyond  which  the 
water  is  shoal,  which  the  Indians  call  Sha-ga-ivaum-ic-oiig  from 
Sha-ga-waum-ic,  a  shoal  point  in  the  water.  This  word,  passing 
through  the  French  into  our  language,  became  Ghcquamegoriy 
and  the  place  is  so  called  at  this  day,  which  is  not  an  Indian 
word,  and  has  no  element  whatever  of  an  Indian  word,  except,  as 


470  Indian  Names. 

to  the  syllable  che,  which  is  a  familiar  prefix  in  the  Algonquin 
language. 

In  like  manner,  as  before  remarked,  a  large  proportion  of  our 
.«o-ealled  Indian  geographical  names,  liave  undergone  such 
■changes  that  they  can  scarcely  he  recognized  as  Indian  words 
in  their  present  form.  In  this  connection,  before  proceeding 
further,  it  is  proper  to  state  that  it  is  not  intended  in  this  brief 
article  to  pursue  a  general  enquiry  as  to  Indian  names  extending 
over  the  continent,  but  the  field  will  be  limited  to  our  more  im- 
mediate vicinity  in  the  i*sorth-\Vest. 

In  pursuing  this  subject  intelligently,  it  is  proper  first  to  class- 
ify the  various  groups  of  native  inhabitants  as  nearly  as  may  be, 
■so  far  as  they  are  marked  by  a  common  or  generic  language. 
These  were  tlie  Algonquin,  Iroquois,  Appalachian,  Dakota  and 
Shoshonee.  Each  of  these  were  divided  into  tribes  or  families, 
speaking  different  dialects  of  the  common  language,  by  which 
the  main  group  was  distinguished.  In  this  division  of  tribes  they 
i-esembled  the  ancient  Jews. 

The  Algonquins  inhabited  the  country  extending  from  Nova 
i>cotia  south  to  the  James  River,  thence  west  to  the  mouth  of  the 
"Ohio,  and  from  thence  northward  to  Hudsons  Bay,  excepting  that 
portion  on  the  south  and  east  of  Lake  Ontario,  since  comprised 
Avithin  the  State  of  New  York,  which  was  occupied  by  the  Iro- 
■qtiois. 

The  Appalachians  occupied  that  portion  of  the  country 
-south  of  the  Algonquins,  and  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Tiie 
Dak'otas,  called  by  the  French  Sioux,  occupied  a  district  of  coiin- 
try  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of  the  Missouri  and  Platte 
Rivers.  The  country  south  and  west  of  them  was  occupied  by 
the  Shoshonees. 

Thus,  in  tracing  the  origin  or  in  arriving  at  the  meaning  of  In- 
-dian  names,  we  have  first  to  determine  from  which  language  of 
the  several  groups  they  are  derived,  and  through  what  particular 
<lialect  they  are  produced. 

Ainonc:  the  tribes  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  Al^on- 
■quin  language  as  spoken  by  the  Ojibway  nation,  was  regarded 
as  the  court  language,  so  that  when  a  perton  fell  among  a  strange 
tribe,  whose  language  he  did  nut  understand,  if  he  spoke  this  lan- 
guage, they  were  bound  as  a  general  rule,  to  furnish  some  one  who 
who  oould  communicate  with  him  in  that  lauffuac-e.  It  was 
through  this  langunge,  that  Marquette  spoke  with  all  the  tribes, 
<»n  his  route  from  Montreal  to  the  Des  Moines,  and  so  it  was  with 
all  these  early  French  travellers,  including  Lallontan,  who  pro- 
ceeded, as  we  may  believe  from  liis  narrative,  far  up  the  Platte 
river.  Thus  the  language  of  the  Algonquins  became  m  one  sense 
the    universal  language  of  the   continent;  whereby  it  happens 


Indian  Names.  ^Tl 

that  a  large  proportion  of  our  Indian  geographical  names  are  de- 
rived from  that  source.  Hence  it  may  be  proper  to  arive  in  thia 
connection  some  general  suorc-estions  in  regard  to  this  lancrnajre. 

According  to  the  Ojibway  standard  only  seventeen  letters  are 
required  to  write  correctly  and  plainly  all  the  words  in  this  ex- 
pressive language.  These  letters  are  divided  into  vowels  and 
consonants.  There  are  only  four  vowels,  a,  e,  i,  o.  This  langnag& 
has  properly  no  u.  There  are  thirteen  consonants,  namely  :  b, 
c,  d,  g,  h,  j,  k,  m,  n,  p,  s,  t,  w.  The  following  consonants,  f,  1, 
q,  r,  V,  X,  z,  never  occur  in  the  words  of  this  language.  So  any 
word  stated  to  bean  Indian  word,  if  it  comprises  any  of  the  last 
mentioned  letters,  it  can  be  set  down  for  certain  that  it  is  not  an 
Algonquin  word,  and  the  chances  .are  that  it  is  not  a  genuine 
Indian  word,  but  a  corruption  of  an  Indian  word.  The  French, 
as  a  general  thing,  in  writing  and  speaking  this  language,  sub- 
stituted the  letter  /  for  that  of  n^  as  in  the  word  MthaanJde, 
which  should  properly  he2Iimoaiikie.  It  is  stated,  however,  that 
four  tribes  of  the  Algonquin  group — the  Lenni  Lenapes,  or 
Delawares,  the  Sacs,  Foxes'  and  Shawnees — had  in  their  dialect 
the  sound  of  I. 

In  constructing  words  in  this  language,  it  is  required  that  a 
consonant  should  precede  or  Ibllow  a  vowel,  except  in  dissyllables 
wherein  two  consonants  are  sounded  in  juxtaposition,  as  in  muk- 
kiil;  a  box,  and  as-sin,  a  stone;  the  utterances  in  these  cases  being 
confluent.  But  in  longer  compounds  this  juxtaposition  is  gener- 
ally avoided  by  throwing  in  a  vowel,  for  the  sake  of  euphony,  as 
in  the'term  Assinebvjoin,  the  e  in  which  is  a  mere  connective, 
and  has  no  meaning  by  itself.  Nor  is  it  allowable,  in  general, 
for  vowels  to  follow  each  other  in  syllabication.  The  plural  of 
animate  names  is  marked  by  adding  the  letter  g.  Thus,  manito, 
a  spirit;  plural,  manitofj.  The  plural  of  inanimate  names  is 
marked  by  the  letter  ;i  added ;  i\\\\s,,  abwi,  a  paddle;  plural,  aii"'//i. 
This  termination,  however,  is  varied  by  vowels  preceding  the  fi- 
nal letter  forming  the  ])lural,  according  to  circumstances. 

In  pursuing  Indian  geographical  names,  it  is  noticeable  that 
in  general  the  names  are  derived  from  the  language  of  the  tribes 
who  iniiabited  that  part  of  the  country  where  such  names  are 
found.  In  many  instances,  however,  these  names  have  been  car- 
ried by  emigrants  from  their  appropriate  locality  to  other  ])f.rt3 
of  the  country.  But  as  a  general  rule  such  names  serve  to 
mark  the  former  locality  of  Indirn  tribes  speaking  the  language 
from  which  they  are  derived;  as  in  the  Stateof  Tsew  York,  which 
abounds  in  Indian  names,  and  reminds  us  that  liere  once  lived 
the  Iroquois  nation. 

Not  only  are  the  ])eople,  who  have  succeeded  the  native  tribes, 
in  complete  ignorance  of  tlie  origin  and  meaning  of  the  namea 


47S  Indian  Names. 

"they  have  left  us  to  designate,  rivers,  towns,  and  localities,  hut 
they  are  unaware  of  the  fact  that  very  many  names  we  are  now 
using,  which  we  suppose  to  come  from  other  sources,  are  also, 
Indian  names,  or  derived  therefrom.  Of  the  thirty-eight  States 
of  the  Union,  eighteen  have  Indian  names,  as  follows  :  Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  Ohio,  Kentucky, 
Michigan,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Iowa,  Missouri,  Mis- 
sissippi, Texas,  Arkansas,  Kansas,  ^Nebraska,  Oregon,  which  in 
general,  are  derived  from  great  rivers  or  other  waters. 

In  pursuing  this  subject,  there  is  one  thing  with  wliich  we 
have  to  deal  wherein  at  tliis  time  we  can  obtain  no  satisfactory 
aid  in  case  of  doubt  or  uncertainty.  We  frequently  find  Indian 
words  where  the  same  sounds  occur,  from  two  or  more  different 
languages  or  dialects,  with  entirely  different  meanings;  so,  what 
may  have  been  the  original  intention  in  giving  the  name,  or 
from  which  language  or  dialect  the  word  is  derived,  cannot  be 
stated.  In  such  cases,  conjecture  only  can  be  given.  The  word 
Chicago,  or  that  which  is  essentially  the  same,  is  found  in  several 
different  languages,  with  entirely  different  meanings. 

In  the  following  list  of  Indian  names,  we  will,  for  convenience, 
use  abbreviations  to  some  extent,  thus:  Alg.,  for  Algonquin, 
Irq.,  for  Iroquois,  Apl.,  for  Appalachian,  Dak.,  for  Dakota. 

Arkansaw — A  town  in  Wisconsin;  given  by  the  French  as 
Ar1ca,7isas^'  applied  to  a  tribe  of  Indians  in  the  vicinity  of  a  river 
of  that  name  flowing  into  the  Mississippi  from  the  west.  Hen- 
nepin speaks  of  these  Indians  as  the  Kansas,  the  signification 
of  which  is  not  given.  It  is  said  that  they  made  a  superior  kind 
of  bows  for  shooting,  the  material  beii:g  of  a  peculiar  kind  of 
wood  growing  in  that  country,  hence  they  were  called  "Arc- 
kansas,"  pronounced  ArJcansaw.  By  some,  called  "  the  bow  In- 
dians." 

AsHKUM — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois;  more  and  more.  Thus 
Ashkum-ahkoose,  he  is  getting  woj'se  (more  sick.)  Ashkwti 
Wahishkah,  it  is  getting  whiter. 

Ahnapee — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin,  loheji,  when  is  it. 

Allamakee  {An-a-ina-kee) — Ag. — A  county  in  Iowa.  Thun- 
der. 

Algonquin. — A  town  in  Illinois.  The  name  of  one  of  the 
principal  groups  of  Korth  American  Indians,  given  to  them  by 
the  French.  Its  meaning  is  in  some  doubt.  It  is  derived  from 
the  Algonquin  language,  and  is  said  to  mean,  jy^'^P^^  ^f  ^^ 
other  side,  or  opposite  shore. 

Algonac. — A  town  in  Michigan.  Pertaining  to  Algonquin. 
Place  of  the  Algonquins. 

Anoka — Alg. — A  town  in  Minnesota.  lie  works,  or  "a  busy 
place." 


Indian  Names.  ^~*^ 

Anamosa. — Alfj. — A  towM  ill  Iowa.  You  walk  from  me, 
•or,  ])erhaps,  from  An-a-tnosh ^  "a  d(jo:." 

Appanoose — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  N^ame  of  an  Indian 
chief  of  the  Fox  tribe.     The  (jrandchild. 

Cayuga  {Gv}e-u-gweli) — Irq. — A  town  in  Illinois,  ^fuelij- 
land;  from  a  tribe  of  Indians  in  New  York  of  the  Iroquois  nation; 
they  were  called  Gvie-u-gweh-o-no,  "People  of  the  Mucky  land." 

Cuebansf: — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois;  Little  Ducl\  from  an 
Indian  chief  of  that  name. 

CiiKMixG — Irq. — A  town  in  Illinois;  from  a  river  of  that 
name  in  New  York,  siirnifying  hig  horn,  so  named  bv  the  Indians 
ft\»m  tiiidini;-  in  the  bed  of  the  river  a  fossil  elephant's  tusk. 

Chicago — Alg. — A  city  in  Illinois;  said  to  derive  its  name 
from  the  river  of  that  name.  Some  insist  that  it  comes  from 
she-kagh,  or  sJie-gagh — "skunk."  The  word  Choe-ea-go ocq,\\ys> 
in  the  Pottawattamie  dialect,  which  signifies  "destitute."  There 
is  nothino;  in  the  historv  or  tradition  of  this  word  which  would 
lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  derived  from  the  word  sne- 
Jcagh,  except  the  mere  coincidence  of  sounds.  The  word,  or 
that  which  is  essentially  the  same,  first  occurs  in  Hennepin's 
account  of  Fort  Creve  Cociir,  built  by  LaSalle,  January,  16S0, 
on  the  Illinois  river,  near  where  Feoria  now  stands.  He  says 
this  fort  was  called  by  the  savages  Chlmgou^  but  does  not  give 
the  meaning  of  the  word.  This  reference  thereto,  occurs  in  the 
heading  to  that  chapter  of  his  book  giving  an  account  of  the 
building  of  this  fort,  the  words  of  which  are  as  follows:  "An 
account  of  the  building  of  a  new  fort  on  the  river  of  the  Illinois, 
named  by  the  savages  Checagov,  and  by  us  Fort  Crevecoer.''''  Four 
years  latent  the  name  appears  on  a  French  map,  applied  to  a  river 
represented  as  putting  into  the  ri\er  Desplein  from  the  east, 
near  Mount  Joliet.  A  few  vears  later  Lallonton  desio;nates  the 
portage  between  the  Illinois  river  and  the  great  lake  as  the  portage 
of  Chikahni.  Charlevoix,  in  1720,  refers  to  the  point  on  the  great 
lake  at  which  the  portage  t(»  the  Illinois  river  commences  as 
Chicagoii.  There  are  several  words  in  the  various  dialects  of  the 
Algoncpiin  group  to  which  the  origin  of  this  word  may  be 
assigned  with  equal  propriety  as  that  of  she-kohg.  Certain  it 
is,  that  tliere  is  no  li^ht  afforded  us  in  historv  l>v  which  we  can 
determine  the  original  intention  as  to  the  meaning  of  this  word.* 

EscANAUA — Alg. — Menominee  dialect. — A  town  in  Michigan. 
Flatrock. 

*  In  the  early  part  of  this  work  the  writer  gave  the  siffnification  of  this  word 
according  to  the  meaning  which  the  Indians  gave  it  in  tne  later  day.  and  which 
has  generally  lieen  accepted  us  good  antlioritv:  but  the  investigations  of  Mr. 
Haines  would  go  to  sliowthat  a  diversity  of  Indiiin  meanings  have  heen  applied 
to  it  with  so  little  atfinity  with  each  other,  that  one  ii?  lost  in  the  att'.'nipt  to 
•ettle  on  a  consistent  theory  ae  to  the  true  spirit  of  the  term. — Althob. 


4S0  Indian  Names. 

Geneseo  {Gen-nis-he-yo)  Irq. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Beautiful 
Valley.  The  name  of  a  river  in  Xew  York,  so  named  by  tlie 
Iriquois  from  the  beautiful  valley  tliis  river  passes  through. 

Illinois — From  the  Algonquin  word  ini/ii,  "man,"  and 
French  adjective  termination  ois.  The  French  substituted  I  for 
n.  From  tradition,  it  was  intended  to  mean  or  have  referpnce  to 
a  jperfect  man,  as  distinguished  from  the  Iroquois  nation,  who 
were  considered  by  the  Western  tribes  as  beasts.  Marquette,  in 
descending  the  Mississippi,  touched  on  the  west  bank  of  that 
river  at  a  place  near  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines,  where  he  found 
marks  of  inhabitants,  which  he  pursued  westward  a  few  miles, 
when  he  arrived  at  an  Indian  village,  where  he  was  received  with 
demonstrations  of  great  friendship.  He  communicated  with  the 
inhabitants,  it  would  appear,  in  the  Algonquin  language,  but  as 
their  dialect  differed  from  tiiat  of  anv  of  the  tribes  he  had  before 
met  with,  he  asked  the  chief  who  received  him  who  they  were. 
He  answered  in  the  Algonquin  language,  "We  are  mew,"  as 
distinguished  from  the  Iroquois,  whom  they  looked  upon  as 
beasts  in  consequence  of  their  cruel  conduct  in  their  invasions 
upon  the  Western  tribes.  Hence  the  term  Inini,  "man,"  or  as 
the  French  rendered  it,  Illini.  Thereafter  the  tribes  of  this 
vicinity  became  known  among  the  French  as  IlUnese  or  Illinois. 

IsHPEMixG — Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan.  High-ahove-Heaven. 

Kalamazoo — (Ne-gik-an-a-ma-zoo) — Alg. — A  river  in  Michi- 
gan. The  contraction  of  an  Indian  phrase  descriptive  of  the 
stones  seen  through  the  water  in  its  bed,  which  from  a  refractive 
power  in  the  cuirent,  resembled  an  otter  swimming  under  water. 

Kenosha — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.  A  long  fish — a 
pike.     From  Kenose — "long." 

Kewanee — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.     Prairie  hen. 

Kewaskum — Alg. — X  town  in  Wisconsin.     Heturning  track. 

KicKAPoo — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  The  name  of  one  of 
the  Algonquin  tribes  of  the  West,  jestingly  applied  by  others  of 
the  same  stock.  From  Negik-ahos — an  otter's  apparition — g/iost 
of  an  otter. 

KiSHWAUKE — Alg. — A  river  in  Illinois.  Place  of  sycamore 
trees. 

KoKOMo — Alg. — A  town  in  Indiana. —  Wise,  like  an  owl. 
From  which  it  would  seem  that  the  Indians,  like  the  ancient 
Greeks,  esteemed  the  owl  as  an  emblem  or  symbol  of  wisdom. 

Moccasin — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.     A  shoe. 

Manitoija — {Man-i-to-hwa.) — Alg. — Name  of  a  lake  in  the 
British  Possessions  of  the  Northwest.     Spirit-voice. 

Manito — Alg.-^K  town  in  Illinois.  Spirit.  By  the  early 
French  travelers,  Manitou. 

Manitowoc— ^^^. — A    town  in   Wisconsin.     Place  of    the 


Indian  Names.  4S1 

Spirit.     By  some,  Man-i-to-aiih — "A  tree  where  spirits  abide." 

Mascoutah — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  From  ma&coda, 
"prairie." 

Mazo  manie — Dak. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.  Walker  on 
iroii.     Kame  of  a  Sioux  chief. 

Mexomixee — Alg. — A  river  and  town  in  Wisconsin.  Eater 
of  wild  rice.  From  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  Menominees,  from 
their  subsisting  on  wild  rice.* 

Mequon,  or  Maqxion — Alg. — A  river  in  Wisconsin.  Feather 
or  quill. 

MicHiGAMME,  or  Michigumme — Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan. 
Great  icater. 

MicHiLiMACiNAc — Alg. — An  island  in  the  straits  between 
lakes  Huron  and  Michigan.     Great  Turtle. 

Michigan — Alg. — Tlie  Great  Lake. 

MiNNEHAHAH — {M'inne-Tara^ — Dak. — Name  of  a  noted  water- 
fall in  Minnesota.  Laughing  water;  from  Minne,  "  water  "  and 
ra  ra,  "  laugh."  This  was  the  name  originally  given  by  the  Da- 
kotahs  to  St,  Anthonys  Falls.  Hennepin  visited  these  Falls 
in  16S0,  and  gave  to  them  the  present  name  of  St.  Anthony.  In 
later  years  the  name  Minnehaha,  intended  for  Mm-ne-ra-ra, 
became  applied  to  that  small  but  interesting  waterfall  near  Ft. 
Snelling. 

Milwaukee — {Min-wau-kee). — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin, 
Good  earth. — Good  eountrxj. 

MiNNETONKA — Dak. — Xaiue  of  a  noted  lake  in  Minnesota; 
a  great  pleasure  resort.  The  word  is  Minne  Tonga,  or  more 
properly  spoken,  Tonga  Minne,  signitying  "a  lake"  orhody  of 
water. 

Minnesota — Dak. — Is^anie  of  a  river  and  state.  From  Min- 
ne "  water,  "  and  "sota,"  which  is  understood  to  mean  mixed  or 
mottled,  signifying  the  condition  or  appearance  of  the  water  of 
this  river,  when  affected  by  the  flood  of  the  Mississippi;  some 
say  that  sota^  refers  to  the  hazy  or  smoky  appearance  of  the  at- 
mosphere, over  the  valley  of  this  river  at  some  seasons  of  the  year. 

Mississippi — Alg. — i^ame   of  a  river  and  state. — Great  Rirer. 

MiSHA  MoQUA — {Mish-a-muk-wa.) — Alg. — A  town  in  Wis- 
consin— Great  bear.  From  rnisha,  "  great,"  and  niukwa,  "a  bear." 

MoKEXA — (Mok-e-??a) — Alg. — 'A  town  in  Illinois.     Turtle. 

MoAWEQUA — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Weeping  wonmnj 
she  that  weeps.  , 

MuscoDA — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Prairie. 

*  The  marshj'  lands  along  Fox  River  and  adjacent  lakes,  in  the  country  of  the 
Menominees,  abounded  in  wild  rice,  and  was  their  principal  article  of  Hubsis- 
tence;  hence  the  appellation,  Menominees,  from  me-no-niin,  "wild  rice." 


482  Indian  Names. 

Muskegon — {Muskeg-ong)  Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan.    At  the 
swamp. 

MusKEGO — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Swamp. 

MusQUAKA — Alg. — Sac  dialect. — A  town  in  Iowa.    Bed  eaHh. 

Neoua —  Irq^. — A  town  in  Illinois.     Place  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

!Neshotah — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin,     Ttoin. 

NoKOMis — Alg. — A  toAV    "m  Illinois.     Grandmother. 

NuNDA — Irq.—X  town  in  Illinois.     Hills. 

OGE^rA — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Chief— head  man. 

Ohio  {O-hee-o) — Irq. — ]S'ame  of   a   river.     Beautiful  —  how 
heautiful. 

Ontoagon — Alg. — A  town  on  Lake  Superior.  From  Ifon- 
tonagon,  *'My  disli." 

Osage — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Miami  dialect.  The 
Neutral,    The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Indians. 

Oscoda — Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan.     From  Iscoda,  "Fire." 

OsHKosH — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.  Brave.  !N"ame  of  a 
Menominee  chief 

Oquaka — Alg.-  %Li  dialect. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Yellow  earth. 

OssixEKE  {Oi<-sin-e-ka) — Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan.  He  that 
gathers  or  works  in  stories. 

Oswego  {0-Sweh-go) — Irq. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Flowing 
out.  This  name  was  given  by  the  Iroquois  to  the  place  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  since  called  by  that  name,  in  the  state  of 
New  York. 

Ottawa — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Trader.  ITame  of  a 
tribe  of  Indians  whom  the  French  designated  as  the  traders. 

OzATJKEE — Alg. — A  county  in  Wisconsin.     Yellow  earth. 

PEMiJiNA — Alg. — A  town  in  Minnesota.  High  hush  cran- 
berries. The  name  of  a  river,  being  so  named  by  the  Indians  from 
these  bushes  growing  along  its  banks. 

Vno'to^-E.{Pe-tone) — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Bring — hring 
here. 

Poweshiek — Alg. — A  county  in  Iowa.  From  an  Indian  cliief 
of  the  Fox  tribe.     The  roused  hear. 

PoYGAN — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Pirn. 

Sebewa — {Se-he-wan) — Alg. — A  town  in  Michigan.  Running 
water. 

Shawano — Alg. — ^A  town  in  Wisconsin.     South-em. 

SoMoxAUK  {Es-sem-in-auk) — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  Pcyuo 
Paw  tree. 

ToNicA — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.     A  place  inhahited. 

Tuscola — Apl. — A  town  in  Illinois.    A  level  plain. 

Wababhaw — Dak. — A  town  in  Minnesota.  Irom  an  Indian 
chief  of  the  Sioux  nation.     Bedleaf  or  the  leaf. 


Indian  Names.  483 

"Wapei.la — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  From  an  Indian  chief  of 
the  Fox  Tribe.     He  who  is  'painted  white. 

Wausau — Mg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Far  off. 

"Waukesha  (  Wau-koosh-ong) — Alg. — A  town  in  Wisconsin. 
At  the  Fox.  on  Fox  River.  This  is  another  of  those  numer- 
ous instances  of  an  attempt  to  adopt  an  Indian  name,  which 
has  not  been  successful.  I'he  word  given  in  parenthesis  is  be- 
lieved to  be  the  word  intended.  The  place  bearing  this  name  was 
originally  called  Prairieville.  As  the  town  grew  in  importance, 
the  inhabitants,  foremost  among  whom  was  the  late  Gov,  lian- 
dall,  desired  to  adopt  some  more  appropriate  name.  It  being 
situated  on  Fox  river,  they  wished,  to  adopt  some  Indian  name, 
suggestive  of  its  locality.  This  would  be  pro]>erly  expressed  by 
the  word  Wau-Jioosh-ong^  M'hicli  would  seem  to  be  the  word  in- 
tended. ^wtWauJieiha  would  not  be  recognized  by  the  Indians 
as  an  Indian  word. 

Waukegan  (  Wau-ki-e-gan) — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.  A 
ho  Hse,  or  fort.  The  place  where  this  town  is  situated  was  originally 
called  Little  Fort.  It  seems  to  have  Ijeen  a  French  trading  post 
of  minor  importance— probably  established  about  the  year  1720, 
or  at  some  tirne  in  the  early  part  of  \\\u^  century.  The  occasion 
of  selecting  this  point  as  a  post  seems  to  have  been  two-fold.  It 
was  in  the  vicinity  of  excellent  liunting  and  trapjiing  grounds, 
especially  the  latter,  and  was  found  to  be  the  nearest  point  of 
any  for  reaching  the  Desplaines  river  from  Lake  Michigan, 
where  in  a  good  stage  of  water  a  short,  easy  portage  could  be 
made  on  the  route  to  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  rivers,  saving 
about  forty  miles  of  lake  coast,  necessary  in  going  by  way  of 
Chicago.  It  was  continued  as  a  French  post  until  probably 
about  1760.  After  the  English  succeeded  to  the  country  the 
l^oint  became  known  as  The  Little  Fort,  and  the  town  subse- 
quently built  up  here  took  that  name.  Judge  Blodgett,  now  of 
the  United.  States  Court,  becoming  a  resident  of  the  place,  and 
having  a  lancy  for  Indian  names,  suggested  that  the  name  of 
Little  Fort  be  changed  by  substituting  an  Indian  name  signify- 
ing the  same  thing.  The  diminutive  of  nouns  in  the  Algonquin 
language  Is  formed  by  adding  the  syllable  anse.,  so  that  Little 
Fort  in  that  language  would  be  Wau-ki-e-qanse;  but  for  the  pur- 
poses of  euphony  tlie  name  adopted  was  WanJcegan^vAxich  would 
signify  simply  Foi't  or  Iloxise.  Although  the  pronunciation  is 
not  precisely  the  same  as  the  Indian  word  intended,  but  yet  is  - 
nearer  to  that  intended  than  the  so  called  Indian  names  generally 
are.  The  Indians  designated  a  fort  or  dwelling  of  the  white  man 
by  the  same  name.  The  original  dwellings  of  the  whiteB  among 
tiiem  were  buildings  for  trading  posts,  built  in  a  style  for  pro-  ■ 
tection,  and  were  called  forts  by  the  French. 


■^84:  Indian  Hamea. 

"Wauconda — Dak.—A  town  in  Illinois.     The  Good  Spirit. 

AVaxatah — Dak. — A  town  in  Indiana,  Ue  that  charges  on 
his  enemies.     Xanie  of  an  Indian  chief. 

.  Waupun  {WaU'bun) — Al(j. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.     Hourly — 
J'ro}Uier. 

AVkvauwbga — Alff. — A  town  in  Wisconsin.  This  is  one  of 
the  words  passing  for  an  Indian  name,  which  in  its  present  form 
is  not  an  Indian  word.  The  word,  according  to  the  late  Gov. 
Doty,  is  Wey-au-weya,  as  given  by  him  to  the  postoffice  depart- 
ment at  Washingtoi  when  the  postoffice  at  that  place  was  estab- 
lished. The  department  mistook  tlie  y  for  g,  rendering  the 
name  as  it  now  is.  The  word  intended  is  an  Algonquin  word,  of 
the  Menominee  dialect,  and  signifies  whirling  %oind.  It  was  the 
name  of  a  faithful  Menominee  Indian  guide  long  in  the  service 
of  Gov.  Doty,  whose  name  he  sought  after  his  death  to  perpetu- 
ate through  applying  it  to  this  town. 

WixETKA — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.     A  heautiful  place. 

AVixxebago  (  Win-ne-be-gog) — Ag. — Xame  of  a  county  in  Illi- 
nois. Dirty  waters.  The  name  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  found 
by  the  French  at  Green  Bay,  which  they  called  Stinking  Bay 
for  some  cause,  whereby  these  Indians  became  known  as  Winne- 
bagogs,  or  people  of  the  dirty  waters 

Wisconsin. — N^aine  of  a  river  and  state.  Marquette  calls  this 
river  the  Mishhonsing,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  intended 
as  an  Indian  word,  signifying  strong  current,  a  feature  which 
marks  this  stream  in  high  water. 

Wyanet. — Alg. — A  town  in  Illinois.     Beautiful. 

Tankton. — Dak. — A  town  in  Dakota  Territory.  From 
Eya7ik-t07i-wah,  "People  of  the  Sacred,  or  Spirit  Lakes." 


YALE  I)  I  C  T  ()  R  Y. 

Far  different  is  the  early  history  of  the  Northwest  from  that 
of  New  England,  or  the  Virginia  colonies.  The  people  of  both 
came  from  the  same  origin,  except  the  French,  who  remained  in 
the  country,  but  when  the  Anglo-Americans  came  to  the  West, 
their  minds  were  unclouded  by  the  servitudeof  caste,  either  in  re- 
ligious or  political  affairs,  for  time  had  wrought  great  changes 
between  the  days  of  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  by  gentlemen, 
iind  Plymouth  by  unctious  Puritans,  and  the  days  of  William 
Henry  Harrison,  when  Western  pioneering  became  a  mania 
throughout  the  East.  Then  came  a  rush  of  adventurers  to  the 
new  held  of  labor.  Not  regretful  fugitives  from  persecution,  but 
bold,  aggressive  and  ambitious  fortune-seekers  who  could  tolerate 
Jews,  especially  if  they  would  loan  them  money,  or  Quakers,  if 
they  would  sell  them  "  honest  goods "  as  they  are  wont  to  do. 
Thev  could  fellowship  any  one  who  would  do  something  to  help 
subdue  the  wilds  of  the  West,  and  build  progressi'.e  institutions 
thereiii;  and  here  grew  into  being  from  cosmopolitan  elements, 
The  West  As  It  Is:  the  wealthiest  country  in  the  world  in 
creature  comforts  if  not  in  gold.  Its  adult  population  have 
largely  witnessed  its  growth  and  who  of  them  can  say,  they  have 
not  felt  their  minds  enlarge  by  Western  experience. 

Headers,  to  this  conviction  I  confess,  To  you,  I  therefore 
say  that  in  writing  the  foregoing  pages,  I  have  imagined  myself 
familiarly  conversing  with  my  peers  who  were  in  sympathy  with 
ine  and  knew  how  to  accept  my  words,  feeble  as  words  are  to 
measure  the  gbakdeur  of  the  West  historically. 

Here  lived  and  grew  tlie  pioneer, 
Amidst  the  wilds  by  nature  spread ; 

Wlio  never  felt  a  servile  fear, 
From  titled  lord  or  crowned  head. 

Frophetic  in  his  visions  gleam. 

Through  future  ages  yet  to  be, 
Tlie  star  of  empire's  Western  stream, 

Along  its  way,  from  sea  t<i  sea. 

And  here  was  work  for  him  to  do, 

With  glory  yet  to  ciown  his  age, 
Where  all  things  must  be  built  anew, 

On  virgin  fields  of  fair  presage. 

And  peerless  temples  here  shall  rise, 
Drawn  from  the  world's  great  manifest, 

Whose  spires  shall  pierce  the  azure  skies. 
Whose  light  adorns  the  Bounteous  West. 

Chicago,  lU.,  December,  1880.  THE  AUTHOR. 


WASHINGTON'S 
JOURNAL  OF  A  TOUR  TO  THE  OHIO. 


m  1753. 


With  Notes  by  John  G.  Shea. 


'.^\ ..... 


t 


The  following  diary  of  joimg  Washington,  on  his  tour  to  the 
liead-waters  of  the  Ohio,  has  never  before  been  published  in  a 
form  available  to  the  book-buyers  of  tii»^  West,  and  is  here  in- 
serted as  an  interesting  historical  docunient,  well  worthy  a  place 
in  Nortliwestern  History,  all  the  more  valuable  for  Mr.  Shea's 
Kotes  and  Introduction  accompanying  it. 


IIs^TEODUCTIOlT. 


The  earliest  of  Washington's  diaries,  printed  almost  as  soon  as 
its  last  page  was  written,  possesses  uncommon  interest,  from  the 
fullness  with  which  he  describes  the  events  of  his  journey,  a  full- 
ness for  whicli  we  are  indebted  to  the  instructions  of  Governor 
Dinwiddie. 

"Washington  was  then  twenty-one,  but  already  a  "  person  of 
distinction."  Adjutant  General  of  the  colonial  troops,  witli  the 
rank  of  Major,  to  liim  was  committed  the  northern  division  of 
the  colony.  His  earlier  exploration  as  surveyor  had  brought 
him  into  contact  with  the  Indians,  and  none  seemed  better  to 
know  and  understand  them;  while  his  early  maturity,  dignity 
and  judgment  fitted  him  for  any  important  undertaking  that  did 
not  require  the  experience  of  years. 

Atlairs  had  reached  a  crisis.  France  had  colonized  Canada, 
Illinois  and  Louisiana,  a,nd  connected  them  by  detached  posts, 
but  the  possession  of  the  Ohio,  so  necessary  to  the  safety  of  her 
wide  i)rovineial  power,  was  soon  to  tall  into  the  hands  of  her 
rival  by  the  rapid  progress  of  English  colonization.  To  set  a 
barrier  to  its  westward  progress,  France  determined  to  run  a  line 
of  forts  from  Niamira  to  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  and  down  that 
river. 

The  Indians  first  took  the  alarm.  When  the  tidings  readied 
the  Ohio  that  a  French  force  was  on  its  way  to  erect  this  line  of 
forts,  a  council  of  the  wandering  tribes,  Mingoes,  Shawnees  and 
Delawares,  met  at  Logstown,  and  in  April,  1753,  dispatched  an 
envoy  to  Niagara  to  j)rotest  against  the  action  of  the  French. 
Tlie  protost  was  unheeded.  Tanacharisson  then  went  to  Fort 
Presque  Isle  to  meet  Marin,  and  reported  to  Washington,  as  we 
shall  see,  the  result  of  his  fruitless  mission. 

(3) 


4  Introduction. 

Pennsylvania  then  took  tlie  alarm,  and  Governor  Hamilton  inr 
vain  nrged  his  assembly  to  check  the  French  invasion  of  their 
frontiers,  yet  they  appointed  Norris,  their  speaker,  and  Franklin,, 
to  meet  at  Carlisle  a  deputation  from  the  tribes.  There  the  Indian 
declared  his  will.  The  land  was  theirs.  They  wished  neither 
English  nor  French  to  intrude.  Yet,  as  danger  from  the  latter 
seemed  more  imminent,  they  were  willing  to  help  the  English  to 
expel  the  French.  They  did  not  see  that  it  was  but  a  change  of 
masters,  and  if,  in  the  event,  English  garrisons-  replaced  the 
French,  the  power  of  the  latter  was  scarcely  prostrated,  when,  in 
1763,  the  long-smothered  wrath  of  tlte  baffled  red  man  Bwept 
the  English  from  Forts  Erie,  Le  Boeuf  and  Venango,  and  burst  in 
its  might  on  Fort  Pitt. 

Virginia,  too,  moved,  and  AVashington,  from  his  official  posi- 
tion and  liis  knowledge  of  the  Indians,  was  selected  by  Governor 
Dinwiddie  to  proceed  to  the  Ohio,  demand  the  withdrawal  of  the 
French  and  examine  the  condition  of  their  forces.  The  following 
letter,  recently  come  to  light,  and  one  of  the  few  of  chat  period 
of  his  career  known,  shows  how  he  was  engaged  when  chosen  for 
the  mission  to  the  Ohio: 

;  WiNcuESTER,  Oct.  17, 1753. 

Honorable  Sir: — Last  night,  by  return  of  the  express  who 
went  to  Captain  Montour,  I  received  the  inclosed  from  Mr.  Har- 
ris, at  Susquehanna.  I  think  no  means  should  be  neglected  to 
preserve  what  few  Indians  still  remain  in  our  interest,  for  which 
reason  I  shall  send  Mr.  Gist,  as  soon  as  he  arrives,  wliich  I  expect 
"will  be  to-day,  to  Harris'  Ferry,  in  hopes  of  engaging  and  bring- 
ing with  him  the  Belt  of  AVampum  and  other  Inditwis  at  that 
place;  and  I  shall  further  desire  him  to  send  an  Indian  express 
to  Andrew  Montour,  to  try  if  he  can  be  brought  along  with  him. 
In  however  trifling  light  the  French  attempting  to  alienate 
the  atlections  of  our  southern  Indians,  may  at  first  sight  appear, 
I  must  look  upon  it  as  a  thing  of  the  utmost  con6e(|uence,  that 
requires  our  greatest  and  most  immediate  attention.  I  have  often 
wondered  at  not  hearing  that  this  was  attempted  before,  and  had 
it  noted,  among  other  memoranda,  to  acquaint  your  honor  of 
when  I  should  come  down.  The  French  policy  in  treating  with 
Indians  is  sc  prevalent  tliat  I  should  not  be  in  the  least  surprised 


Introduction.  5- 

were  they  to  engage  tlie  Clierokees,  Cuttabas,  &c.,  unless  timely 
and  vigorous  measures  are  taken  to  prevent  it.  A  pusillanimous 
behavior  would  ill  suit  the  times,  and  trusting  for  traders  and 
common  interpreters  (who  will  sell  their  integrity  to  the  highest 
bidder)  may  prove  the  destruction  of  these  affairs.  I  therefore- 
think  that  if  a  person  of  distinction,  acquainted  with  their  lan- 
guage, is  to  be  found,  his  price  should  be  come  to  at  any  rate;  if 
no  such  can  be  had,  a  man  of  sense  and  character,  to  conduct  the 
Indians  to  any  council  that  may  be  had,  or  to  superintend  any 
other  matters,  will  be  extremely  necessary. 

It  is  impertinent,  I  own,  in  me  to  offer  my  opinions  on  these 
matters  when  better  judges  may  direct;  but  my  steady  and  hearty 
zeal  in  the  cause  and  the  great  impositions  I  have  known  prac- 
ticed by  the  traders,  &c.,  upon  these  occasions,  would  not  suffer 
me  to  be  quite  silent.  I  have  heard,  from  undoubted  authority,, 
that  some  of  the  Cherokees  that  have  been  introduced  as  sachems 
and  princes  by  the  intei-preters  (who  share  their  presents  and 
protits),  have  been  no  others  than  common  hunters  and  blood- 
thirsty villains.  We  have  no  accounts  yet  of  the  militia  froim 
Fairfax,  &c.  This  day  I  march  with  about  one  hundred  men  to- 
Fort  Cumberland.  Yesterday,  by  an  express,  I  was  informed  of 
the  arrival  of  eighty  odd  recruits  to  Fredericksburg,  which  I 
have  ordered  to  proceed  to  this  place,  but  for  want  of  the  regu- 
larity being  observed  by  wliich  I  should  know  where  every  officer, 
4fcc.,  ought  to  be,  my  orders  are  only  conditional  and  always  con- 
fused. Whatever  necessaries  your  honor  gets  below,  I  should  be 
glad  to  have  them  sent  to  Alexandria,  from  whence  they  come 
m\ich  more  handy  than  from  Fredericksburgh ;  besides,  as  pro- 
visions are  lodged  there,  and  none  at  the  other  place,  it  will  be 
best  for  the  men  to  be  all  sent  there  that  is  any  ways  convenient^ 
for  we  have  met  with  insui)erable  difficulty  at  Fredericksburgb 
in  our  march  from  iiere,  by  the  neglect  of  the  Com.,  who  is  at 
this  tiaie  greatly  wanted  here.  Therefore  I  hope  your  honor  will 
order  him  up  immediately. 
'  I  am,  honorable  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

G.Washington. 


^  Introductiyn. 

But  before  this  could  have  reached  the  governor  and  been  acted 
wpon,  came  his  commission,  with  these 

ENSTRUCTIONS  FOR   GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

Whei-eas  I  have  received  information  of  a  body  of  French 
■forces  being  assembled  in  a  hostile  manner  on  the  Kiver  Ohio, 
intending  by  force  of  arms  to  erect  certain  forts  on  the  said  river, 
Avithin  this  territory,  and  contrary  to  the  dignity  and  peace  of 
our  sovereign,  the  king  of  Great  Britain;  these  are  therefore  to 
require  and  direct  you,  the  said  George  Washington,  forthwith 
to  repair  to  Logstown,  on  the  said  River  Ohio,  and  having  there 
informed  yourself  where  the  said  French  forces  have  posted  them- 
selves, thereupon  to  proceed  io  such  place,  and  being  there  ar- 
rived, to  presem.  your  credentials,  together  with  my  letter  to  the 
■chief  commanding  officer,  and  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic 
Jlajesty,  to  demand  an  answer  thereto. 

On  your  arrival  at  LogstoNvn,  you  are  to  address  yourself  to  the 
Half-King,  to  Monacatoocha,  and  to  the  other  sachems  of  the  Six 
Nations,  acquainting  them  with  your  orders  to  visit  and  deliver 
my  letter  to  the  French  commanding  officer,  and  desiring  the  said 
•chiefs  to  appoint  you  a  sufficient  number  of  their  warriors  to  be 
jour  sateguai'd,  as  near  the  French  as  you  may  desire,  and  to 
wait  your  further  direction. 

You  are  diligently  to  inquire  into  the  numbers  and  force  of 
tthe  Flinch  on  the  Ohio  and  the  adjacent  country,  how  they  are 
likely  to  be  assisted  from  Canada,  and  what  are  the  difficulties 
sind  conveniences  of  that  communication  and  the  time  required 
for  it 

You  are  to  take  care  to  be  truly  informed  what  forts  the  French 
iiave  erectetl,  and  where;  how  tlicy  are  garrisoned  and  appointed, 
:and  what  is  their  distance  from  each  other  and  from  Logstown; 
.and  from  the  best  intelligence  you  can  procure,  you  are  to  learn 
■what  gave  occasion  to  this  expf«b'tinn  of  tlie  French,  liow  they 
aire  likely  to  lie  supported,  and  what  their  pretensions  are. 

When  the  French  commandant  lias  given  you  the  required  and 
necessary  dispatches,  you  are  to  desire  of  him  a  proi>er  guard  to 
protect  you  as  far  on  your  return  as  you  may  judge  for  your 
safety,  against  any  straggling  Indians  or  hunters  that  may  be 
Ignorant  of  your  character  and  molest  you. 


Introduvtlon.  T 

WisliiniT  you  success  in  your  negotiation  and  a  safe  and  sjx?edjr 
return,  1  am.  &c., 

ROBKKT  DlN\VlJ)l)IE. 

Williamsburg,  October  30, 1753 

Witli  tliese  instructions  Washington  proceeded  to  the  Ohio,  to 
demand  the  witlidrawal  of  tlie  Frencli  from  the  soil  claimed  as 
English  territory.  This  act  opened  a  series  of  struggles,  in  the 
course  of  which  English,  Frencii  and  Americans  changed  their 
relative  positions,  and  which  closed  thirty  years  after,  with  the 
gaze  of  mankind  riveted  on  the  august  form  of  him  wi.oui  w« 
here  behold  the  strii^ling. 

By  that  series  of  struggles  America  alone  profited.  The 
miji^htv  Genius  directing;  her  destinv  seems  to  have  used  the 
power  of  England  to  drive  France  from  the  iiorih  and  west  and 
south,  and  then  used  haftted  France  to  drive  the  English  power 
within  that  line  of  lakes  which  Dongan,  a  century  before,  nuirked 
as  <»ur  boundary;  used  France,  too,  at  a  later  day,  to  add  to  the 
American  limits  that  Louisiana  which  she  could  not  hold  herself, 
so  that  ere  the  century  succeeding  the  events  here  described  had 
reached  its  close,  a  mighty  republic,  stretching  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacilic,  reveres,  perpetuates  and  exalts  the  name  of  Wash- 
ington. 

J.  G.  S. 


4i  Adcertiaemcnt. 


ADYEKTISEMENT. 


As  it  was  thought  advisable  by  his  Honor,  the  Governor,  to 
have  the  following  account  of  my  proceedings  to  and  from  the 
French  on  the  Ohio  committed  to  print,  I  think  I  can  do  no  less 
than  apologize  in  some  measure  for  the  numberless  imperfections 
of  it.  Tliere  intervened  but  one  day  between  my  arrival  in 
"Williamsburg  and  the  time  for  the  Council's  meeting,  for  me  to 
prepare  and  transcribe,  from  the  rough  minutes  I  had  taken  in 
my  travels,  this  journal,  the  writing  of  which  only  was  sufficient 
to  empluy  me  closely  the  whole  time;  consequently  admitted  of 
no  leisure  to  consult  of  a  new  and  proper  form  to  oft'er  it  in,  or 
to  correct  and  amend  the  diction  of  the  old;  neither  \vas  I  ap- 
prised, nor  did  in  the  least  conceive,  when  I  wrote  this  for  his 
Honor's  perusal,  that  it  ever  would  be  published,  or  even  have 
more  than  a  cursory  reading,  till  1  was  informed,  at  the  meeting 
of  the  present  General  Assembly,  that  it  was  already  in  the  press. 
There  is  nothing  can  recommend  it  to  the  public  but  this:  Those 
tilings  which  came  under  the  notice  of  my  own  observation,  1 
havt!  been  explicit  and  just  in  a  recital  of;  those  which  I  have 
gathered  from  report,  I  have  been  particularly  cautious  not  to 
augment,  but  collected  the  opinions  of  the  several  intelligencers 
and  selected  from  the  whole  the  most  probable  and  consistent 
-account. 

G.  Wabuinuton. 


OCTOBER  31, 1753. 

I  was  commissioned  and  a^jpointed  by  tlie  Hon.  Robert  Din- 
widdle. Esq.,  Governor  of  Virginia,^  to  visit  and  deliver  a  letter 
to  the  commandant  of  the  French  forces  on  the  Ohio,  and  set 
out  on  the  intended  journey  on  the  same  day  (October  31, 1753); 
the  next  I  arrived  at  Fredericksburg  and  engaged  Mr.  Jacob  Van 
Eraam'"  to  be  my  French  interpreter,  and  proceeded  with  him  to 
Alexandria,  where  we  provided  necessaries.  From  thence  we 
Avent  to  AVinchester  and  got  baggage,  horses,  &c.,  and  from 
thence  we  pursued  the  new  road  to  Will'.s  Creek,  where  we  amved 
on  the  14th  of  i^ovember. 

Here  I  engaged  Mr.  Gist'  to  pilot  us  out,  and  also  hired  four 
othei's  as  servitors.  Barnaby  Curran  and  Joan  M'Quire,  Indian 
traders;  Henry  Steward  and  William  Jenkins;  and  in  company 
•with  those  persons  left  the  inhabitants  the  next  day. 

1  Kobert  Dinwiddie,  a  native  of  Scotland,  liad  been  a  clerk  to  a  collector  in 
41  AYest  India  custom-honse,  iind  sained  the  favor  of  government  by  exposing 
the  frauds  of  tliat  oliicer.  For  this  lie  was,  in  1741.  made  suneyor  of  the  cus- 
toms of  the  colonies,  and  having,  in  that  (•.ai>acity,  been  obnoxious  to  tlie  Vir- 
ginia aristocracy,  was  made  Lieutenant,(iov<!rnor  of  Virginia  in  1T52.  His 
administration  was  like  that  of  most  colonial  governors.  Cami)bell  thus  de- 
•scribes  its  close  in  his  '•  Histwy  of  A^irginia,"  i>.  497 :  "  In  Jjinuary,  1758,  Rob- 
<eTt  Dinwiddle,  after  an  arduous  and  disturbed  ailuiinistrution  of  live  years,  worn 
out  with  vexation  and  age,  sailed  from  Virginia,  not  much  regretted  except  by 
his  particular  triends." 

2  Jacob  Van  Braam  had  served  under  Lawrence  Washington,  in  Vernon's 
expedition  against  Carthagena,  and  had  been  fencing  master,  as  he  was  now 
interpreter,  to  George  Washington.  In  the  subset] uent  campaign,  when  Wash- 
ington capitulated  at  Fort  Necessity.  Van  Braiim.  acting  as  inmslator,  made 
Wiishinglon  admit  that  he  had  assassinated  De  .Junionville.  After  that  atiair, 
he  was  left,  with  !?tobo,  as  hostage,  in  the  hands  of  the  French. 

8  Christopher  Gist  Avas  an  early  settler  in  those  i)arts.  and  Wa.shington,  in 
recommending  his  appointment  a.s' Indian  agent,  thus  writes  to  .John  Robinson, 
speaker  of  the  House  of  J}urgesses,  May  iJO,  1757 ;  '•  I  know  of  no  person  so 
•well  qualified  for  an  undertaking  of  this  .sort  as  the  bearer,  Captain  Gist.  He 
has  had  extensive  dealings  with  the  Indians,  is  in  great  esteem  among  them, 
■well  iu^tjuaintc''  with  their  manners  and  c\istoms,  indefatigable  and  patient — 
most  excellcui  qualities  where  Indians  aic  concerned.  As  to  his  capacity,  hon- 
esty and  zeal,  1  dare  venture  to  engage. — Writiiigii,  vol.  ii,  p.  2t)C. 

(9) 


10  The  Fori-  of  the  Ohio. 

NOVEMBER  22. 

The  excessive  rains  and  vast  quantity  of  snow  which  had  fallen 
prevented  our  reaching  Mr.  Frasier's,  an  Indian  trader,  at  the 
mouth  of  Turtle  Creek,  on  Monoui^ahela  lliver,  until  Thursday, 
the  22nd.  AVe  were  informed  here  that  expresses  had  heen  sent 
a  few  days  before, to  the  tradei's  down  the  river,  to  acquaint  them 
with  the  French  general's  death,*  and  the  return  of  the  major 
part  of  the  French  army  into  winter  quarters. 

The  waters  were  (juite  impjissable  without  swimming  our 
horses,  which  obliged  us  to  get  the  loan  of  a  canoe  from  Frazier,^^ 
and  to  send  Barnaby  (yurrin  and  Henry  Steward  down  the  Mo- 
nongahela  with  our  baggage,  to  meet  us  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio, 
about  ten  miles,  there  to  cross  the  .Vlleghany. 

As  I  got  down  before  the  canoe,  I  spent  some  time  in  viewing 
the  rivers  and  the  lan(.[  in  tlie  fork,  which  I  think  extremely  well 
situated  for  a  fort,  as  it  has  the  absolute  command  of  both  riv- 
ers.^ The  laud  at  the  point  is  twenty  or  twenty-live  feet  above 
the  conunou  surface  of  the  water,  and  a  considerable  bottom  of 
Hat,  well-timbered  land  all  around  it,  very  convenient  for  build- 

4  This  French  generMl  was  Pierre  Paul,  Sieur  de  Marin,  a  brave  and  intelli- 
gent offieer,  one  of  the  best  in  DuQuesne's  force,  and  liigh  in  the  esteem  of  tliat 
rctonuer  of  discipline.  Du  Quesne  had  dispatched  liim  to  the  Ohio,  to  found 
the  fort  at  the  confluence  of  tlie  Alleghany  and  Monongahela.  The  register  of 
Foil  Duiiuesne  has  the  following  entry:  "In  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  titty  three,  the  2!)th  of  October,  died,  at  half  past  foui'  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  in  the  fort  of  Kiviere  aux  Boeufs,  under  the  title  of  St.  Peter,  Mon- 
.sieur  Pierre  Paid,  Esq.,  Sieur  de  Marin,  Knight  of  the  Military  and  Hoyal  Order 
of  St.  Louis,  Captain  of  Intantrj-  and  Commandant  General  of  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio,  after  having  received  the  sacraments  of  jwnance,  extreme  unction,  and  the 
viaticum,  aged  sixty-three  years.  Hi.«  IxKly  was  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  said 
fort  by  us, liecoUect  priest.  '  '  aplain  of  said  fort,  and,  during  the  campaign, 
of  the  River  Ohio.  Were  jjesent  at  his  interment.  Monsieur  de  Repentigny, 
Commandant  of  said  armj  ud  Captain  of  Infantry;  Messieurs  du  Muys,  Lieu- 
tenant of  Infantry;  Benois,  Lieutenant  of  Infantrj';  de  Simblin,  Major  at  said 
fort;  Laforce, Commissary  of  the  Stores:  who  have  signed  witli  as. 

"Lk  Gardkir  de  Kepestigny, 
"  L.woRCE — Benois — DuMuys, 

"J.  DEfKRE  Sl-MBMN, 

"Frur  Denis  B.\ron, 

Recollect  priest,  Chaplain." 
Marin  had  just  erected  Forts  Presque  Isle  and  Le  B(euf  Du  Quesne,  in  his 
letter  to  M.  De  Rouille,  August  20,  1758,  says:  "Sieur  Marin  wrMes  me  on  the 
3d  inst.,  that  the  foit  at  Presque  Isle  is  entirely  linisiied  ;  that  the  Portage  Road, 
Which  is  six  leagues  in  length,  is  also  ready  for  carriages:  that  the  stove,  which 
was  necessary  to  be  built  halfway  acrcssthe  ]iortage,  is  in  a  condition  to  receive 
the  supplies,  and  that  the  s'MOnd  fort,  which  is  located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Riv- 
iere  an  Banif,  will  soon  be  completed." — N.  Y.  Col.  Doc,  x.,  25(i. 

5  Tliis  choice,  says  Dussieux,  proves  the  accurate  glance  and  excellent  judg- 
ment  of  the  young  major.  But  at  the  moment  of  his  making  the  rejxirt,  the 
French  were  already  erecting  Fort  L>u(|ue8ne  on  the  spot —  Le  Canada  soiu  la 
DominatioH  Francaise,  p.  6L 


The  Half -King.  11 

ing.  The  rivers  are  eacli  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  across,  and 
run  here  verv  nearly  at  right  angles,  Alleghany' bearing  nortli- 
east  and  Monongahela  southeast.  The  former  of  these  two  is  a 
very  rapid  and  swift-running  water,  the  other  deep  and  still,  with- 
out any  perceptible  fall. 

About  two  miles  from  this,  on  the  southeast  side  of  the  river, 
at  the  place  where  the  Ohio  Company  intended  to  erect  a  fort, 
lives  Shingiss,  King  of  the  Delawares.'^  AVe  called  upon  him,  to 
invite  him  to  counsel  at  the  Logstown. 

As  I  had  taken  a  good  deal  of  notice  yesterday  of  the  situation 
at  the  fork,  my  curiosity  led  me  to  examine  this  more  , particu- 
larly, and  I  think  it  greatly  inferior,  either  for  defense  or  ad- 
vantages, especially  the  latter;  for  a  fort  at  the  fork  would  be 
equally  well  sitnated  on  the  Ohio,  and  have  the  entire  command 
of  the  Monongahela,  which  runs  nj)  cmr  settlement,  and  is  ex- 
tremely well  designed  for  water  carriage,  and  it  is  of  a  deep,  still 
nature.  Besides,  a  fort  at  the  fork  might  be  built  at  much  less 
expense  than  at  the  other  places. 

xfature  has  well  contrived  this  lower  place  forj  water  <lefense; 
but  the  hill  whereon  it  must  stand,  being  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  length,  and  then  descending  gradually  on  the  land  side, 
will  render  it  dithcult  and  very  expensive  to  make  a  sutKcient 
foi'tification  there.  The  whole  flat  upon  the  hill  must  be  taken 
in,  the  side  next  the  descent  made  extremely  high,  or  else  the 
hill  i;self  cut  away;  otherwise  the  enemy  may  raise  batteries 
within  that  distance  without  being  exposed  to  a  single  shot  from 
the  fort. 

Shingiss  attended  us  to  the  Logstown,  where  we  arrived  between 
sun-setting  and  dark,  the  twenty-hftli  day  after  I  left  Williams- 
burg. "VVe  traveled  over  some  extremely  good  and  bad  land  to 
get  to  this  place. 

As  soon  as  I  came  into  town,  I  went  to  Monacatoocha  (as  the 
Half-King'  was  out  at  his  hunting  cabin  on  Little  Beaver  Creek, 
about  fifteen  miles  oft),  and  informed  him  by  John  Davidson, 
my  Indian  interpreter,  that  I  was  sent  a  messenger  to  the  French 
general,  and  was  ordered  to  call  upon  the  sachems  of  the  Si.K 
jNations  to  acquaint  them  with  it.     I  gave  him  a  string  of  wam- 

Sum  and  a  twdst  of  tol)acco  and  desired  him  to  send  for  the  Ilalf- 
ang,  which  he  promised  to  do  by  a  runner  in  the  morning,  and 


6  Shingiss  liad  been  the  terror  of  the  English  frontiers,  but  had  now  warmly 
espoused  tlie  cause  of  the  English. 

7  Half-Kinsr-  Tanadiarisson,  a  shrewd  Soneca,  was  called  the  Half-Kinsr.  as 
his  authority  was  subject  to  that  of  the  Five  Nations.  C'mnphrWs  nii<t<irn  if 
Virginia,  Y.  mA;  Sargent's  2>'/Yfffff(»cA\  p.  54.  He  was  witli  Washington  iji  tlir 
affair  with  Junionville,  and  died  in  October,  1754. 


32  French  Forts  on  the  Mississippi. 

for  otliov  ?ac1iemi?.  I  invited  him  and  the  other  ^reat  men  pres- 
ent to  niv  tent,  where  thev  stayed  abont  an  liour  and  returned. 
According  to  the  hest  observations  1  coukl  make.  Mr.  (xist's 
new  settk^nent  (wliich  we  passed  by)  bears  about  west  northwest 
seventy  miles  from  Will's  creek;  Shanriopins.  or  the  fork,  north 
by  west,  or  north  northwest,  about  fifty  jniles  from  tiiat;  and 
fi'oin  tlienee  to  tlie  Lofjstown  the  course  is  iiearly  west  about 
figliteen  or  twenty  mile-;  so  that  the  whole  distance,  as  we  went 
and  computed  it,  is  at  least  one  hundred  and  tliirty-five  or  one 
hundred  and  fortv  miles  from  our  back  inhabitants. 

NOYEMBEE  25. 

Came  to  town,  four  of  ten  Frenchmen,  who  liad  deserted  from 
a  company  at  the  Kuskuskas,^  wliich  lies  at  tlie  mouth  of  this 
river.  I  got  the  following  account  from  them:  They  were  sent 
from  Xew  Orleans  with  a  hundred  men  and  eight  canoe  loads  of 
provisions,  to  this  place,  Avliere  they  ex])eeted  to  have  met  tlio 
same  number  of  men  from  the  forts  on  this  side  of  Lake  Erie,  to 
■convoy  them  and  the  stores  up,  "who  were  not  arrived  when  they 
ran  oii'. 

I  inquired  into  tlie  situation  of  the  French  on  the  Mississippi, 
their  numbers,  and  what  forts  tluy  had  built.  They  informed  me 
that  there  Avere  four  small  forts  between  ^^ew  Orleans  and  the 
Black  Islands,^  garrisoned  with  about  thirty  or  forty  men  and  a 
few  small  ]neces  in  each;  that  at  Kew  Orleans,  which  is  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  there  are  thirty -five  companies  of  forty 
men  eacli,  with  a  pretty  strong  fort,  mounting  eight  carriage 
j^uns,  and  at  the  Black  Islands  tliere  are  several  companies  and  a 
fort  with  six  gims.  The  Black  Islands  are  about  a  hundred  and 
thirty  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  which  is  abont  three 
hundred  and  fifty  above  New  Orleans.  They  also  acquainted  me 
that  there  was  a  small  palisadoed  fort  on  the  Ohio,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Obaish,*'  about  sixty  leagues  from  the  Mississippi.     The 

8  Kuskuskas  was,  it  is  said,  an  Indian  town  on  Big  Beaver  Creek,  Pennsylva- 
nia, but  it  is  more  likelj-  that  the  French  post  of  Kuskaskia  is  intended. 

9  Black  Islands.  Washington  was  here  evidently  misled  by  the  sound,  and 
mistook  Illinois  for  Isles  Xoircs,  that  is.  Black  Islands.  There  was  no  French 
post  called  Black  Islands,  but  the  name  Illinois,  now  so  familiar  to  us,  was  then 
unheard  in  the  British  colonics.  The  jMianiis  and  Illinois  were  known  ns  ('hick- 
tap:hicks  and  Twigtwies,  and  both  together  frequently  under  the  lasi,  the  more 
ccjiumon  term. 

10  Obaish,  Wabash;  in  French,  Ouabnche.  This  name  was  given  b}' Mar- 
quette, La  Salle,  and  other  early  explorers,  to  the  Ohio,  but  finally  became  that 
of  a  branch,  while  the  Iroquois  name,  Ohio,  or  Beautiful  River,  was  applied  to 
V.y.'  main  stieam.    The  fort  alluded  to  was  probably  Vinceuues. 


The  llalf-KhufH  Speech.  13 

^Obaisli  lioads  near  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie,  and  nff<ti'ds  tlie 
communication  between  the  French  on  the  Mi^!.i^siJ)])i  and  those 
on  the  lakes.  These  deserters  came  np  from  tlie  lower  Shan- 
noah"  town  with  one  Brown,  an  Indian  trader,  and  were  going  to 
Phihidel])hia. 

About  three  o'clock  this  evening  the  Half-King  came  to  town. 
T  went  up  and  invited  him.  witli  Davidson.  ]irivateh",  to  my  tent, 
and  desired  him  to  relate  some  of  the  particulars  of  his  journey 
to  the  French  commandant,  and  of  his  rece])tion  there;  also  to 
give  me  an  acconnt  of  the  ways  and  distance.  He  told  me  that 
the  nearest  and  levelest  way  was  now  impassable  by  reason  of 
many  large,  miry  savannas;  that  we  must  be  obliged  to  go  by 
Venango.^^  and  sliould  not  get  to  the  near  fort  in  less  than  nve  or 
six  niijlit's  slee|).  good  traveling.  When  he  went  to  the  fort,  lie 
said  he  was  received  in  a  very  stei'u  manner  by  the  late  com- 
mander, who  asked  him  very  abrujitly  what  he  liad  ci^ne  about, 
and  to  declare  his  business,  which  he  said  he  did  in  the  following 
speech: 

"Fathers,  J  am  come  to  tell  vou  vour  own  speeches,  what  vour 
own  mouths  have  declared. 

'' Fathers,  you,  in  firmer  days,  set  a  silver  basin  before  tib, 
wherein  there  was  the  leg  of  a  beaver,  aiid  desired  all  the  nations 
to  come  and  eat  of  it;  to  eat  in  peace  and  plenty,  and  not  to  be 
clnn'lish  to  one  another;  and  that  if  any  such  person  should  be 
fouTul  to  be  a  disturl)er,  I  liere  lay  down  by  the  edge  of  the  dish 
a  rod,  which  von  must  scourge  them  with;  and  if  vour  father 
•should  get  foolish  in  my  old  days,  I  desire  you  may  use  it  upon 
me,  as  well  as  others. 

"l^ow,  fathers,  it  is  you  who  are  the  disturbers  in  this  land,  by 
■coming  and  building  your  towns,  and  taking  it  away  unknown  to 
•us,  and  by  force. 

"  Fathers,  we  kindled  a  fire  a  Ljng  time  ago  at  a  place  called 
Montreal,  where  we  desired  you  to  stay,  and  not  to  come  and  in- 
trude upon  our  land.  I  now^  desire  yon  may  dispatch  to  that 
place;  for  be  it  known  to  you,  fathers,  that  this  is  our  land,  and 
jiot  vours. 


11  Shawanoe,  or,  as  now  writfcn,  Sha'wnce.  They  were  called, by  the  French, 
('liawanon.  TIkt  wore  tlie  most  restless  of  the  Aljronc|uin  tribes,  havina:  been, 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  i)eriod,  in  almost  all  the  Atlajilic  colonies,  from  Florida 
to  New  York,  and  bands  of  them  aeeompanied  La  Salle  and  Tonti  \\\>  and  down 
Ihe  Mississippi,  one  of  ihem  even  sharing  the  death  of  the  great  explorer. 

12  Venango.  Fort  Venango  wa.i  at  the  eonfluence  of  French  Creek  and  the 
Alleghany,  on  the  left,  and  another  Freneh  fort,  Hachault,  lav  on  the  right.  The 
ruins  of  F(?rt  Venango  cover  a  space  of  about  four  huudrecl  fiiet,  and  the  rain- 
jiarta  are  eight  feet  high. 


14  The  French  GeneraVs  A?iiiwer. 

"Fathers,  I  desire  vou  may  hear  me  \n  civiliiess;  if  r.ot,  we* 
must  handle  that  rod  which  was  hiid  down  for  the  use  of  the  ol)-^ 
Btreperous.  If  you  had  come  in  a  peaeeahlo  niauiicr,  like  oiii- 
brothers  the  English,  we  would  not  have  been  agaip.st  your  tra<liiiii- 
with  us  as  they  do;  but  to  come,  fathers,  and  build  houses  wy.ioi 
our  land,  and  to  take  it  by  force,  is  what  we  cannot  submit  to. 

"  Fathers,  both  you  and  the  English  are  white;  we  live  in  ;t 
country  between;  therefore  the  laiid  belongs  to  n(Mther  one  nor 
the  other;  but  the  Great  Being  above  allowed  it  to  bo  a  place  of 
residence  for  us;  so,  fathers,  I  desire  you  to  withdraw,  as  I  linve 
done  our  brothers  the  English;  for  I  will  kee])  you  at  anu's- 
length.  I  lay  this  down  ?s  a  trial  for  both,  to  see  which  will  have 
the  greatest  regard  to  it,  and  that  side  we  will  stand  l)y  and  make 
equal  sharers  with  us.  Our  brothers  the  English  have  heard  this, 
and  I  come  now  to  tell  it  to  you,  fori  am  not  afraid  to  discharge 
you  off  this  land." 

This,  he  said,  was  the  substance  of  what  he  spoke  to  the  gen- 
eral, who  made  this  reply: 

"Now,  my  child,  I  have  heaitl  your  speech.  You  spoke  first, 
but  it  is  my  time  to  speak  now.  Where  is  my  wam])um  that  you 
took  away  with  the  marks  of  towns  on  it?  This  wampum  I  do 
not  know,  which  you  have  discharged  me  off  tlic  land  with;  but 
you  need  not  put  yourself  to  the  trouble  of  speaking,  fur  I  will 
not  hear  you.  I  am  not  afraid  of  flies  or  musqi::''<jes.for  Indians 
are  such  as  those.    I  tell  you, down  that  river  I   •  <.  and  build 

upon  it,  according  to  my  command.     Jf  the  r.  ;   blocked 

up,  I  have  forces  sufficient  to  burst  it  open  ;vi;  j  M.!er  my 

feet  all  that  stand  in  opposition,  together  with  tli-'  ces,  i'uv 

niy  force  is  as  the  sand  upon  the  seashore;  therefoi  :s  your 

wampum;  I  sling  it  at  you.  Child,  you  tab:  fooli.^M  x'ou  say 
this  land  belongs  to  you,  but  there  is  not  the  black  of  my  nail, 
yours.  I  saw  tliat  land  sooner  than  you  did;  beioro  the  Shan- 
noahs  and  you  were  at  war.  Lead  was  the  man  who  went  dow  n 
and  took  possession  of  that  river.  It  is  my  land,  and  1  will  have 
it,  let  who  will  stand  up  for  or  say  against  it.  I  will  buy  and 
sell  with  the  English  (mockingly).  .If  ])eo])le  will  be  ruled  by 
me,  they  may  expect  kindness,  but  not  else." 

The  Half-king  told  me  he  had  inquired  of  the  general  after 
two  Englishmen  who  were  made  prisoners,  and  received  thifr 
answer: 

"  Child,  you  think  it  a  very  great  hardship  that  I  nuide  prison- 
ers of  those  two  people  at  Venango.  Don't  you  concern  your- 
self with  it.  We  took  and  carried  them  to  Canada,  to  get  intel- 
ligence of  what  the  English  were  doing  in  Virginia." 

He  informed  me  that  they  had  built  two  forts,  one  on  Lake 


Wanhington''s  Speech.  15 

^rio'*  and  another  on  French  Creek,  near  a  small  lake,"  about 
Hfteen  miles  asunder,  and  a  large  wagon -road  between.  They 
-are  both  huilt  after  the  same  model,  but  difterent  in  size;  that  on 
the  lake  the  largest.  He  gave  mo  a  plan  of  them  of  his  own 
•drawing. 

The  Indians  inquired  very  particularly  after  their  brothers  in 
•Carolina  gaoL 

They  also  asked  what  sort  of  a  boy  it  was  who  was  taken  from 
the  South  Branch;  for  they  were  told  by  some  Indians  that  a 
})arty  of  French  Indians  had  carried  a  white  boy  by  Kuskuska 
iown,  towards  the  lakes. 

NOYEMBER  2(j. 

We  met  in  council  at  the  long-house  about  nine  o'clock,  where 
I  s]toke  to  them  as  follows: 

'■  Brothers.  I  have  called  you  together  in  council  by  order  of 
TOur  brother,' the  Governor  of  Virginia,  to  acquaint  you  that  I 
-am  sent  with  all  possible  dispatch  to  visit  and  deliver  a  letter  to 
the  French  coniniandant,  of  very  great  importance  to  your  broth- 
■er:^,  the  English;  and  I  dare  say  to  you,  their  friends  and  allies. 

"  1  was  desired,  brothers,  by  your  brother,  the  Governor,  to 
«ill  upon  you,  the  sachems  of  the  nations,  to  inform  you  of  it, 
a.nd  to  ask  your  advice  and  assistance  to  proceed  the  nearest  and 
best  road  to  the  I'rench.  You  see,  brothers,  I  have  gotten  thus 
far  on  my  journey. 

"  His  Honor  likewise  desired  me  to  apply  to  you  for  some  of 
your  young  men  to  conduct  and  ]>rovide  provisions  for  us  on  our 
way,  and  be  a,  safegmrrd  against  t};ose  French  Indians  who  have 
taken  up  the  hatchet  against  us.  i  have  spoken  thus  particularly 
to  you,  brothers,  because  his  Honor,  our  Governor,  treats  you  as 
good  friends  and  allies,  and  holds  you  in  great  esteem.  To  con- 
tirm  what  I  have  said,  I  give  you  this  string  (jf  wampum." 

After  they  had  considered  for  some  time  on  the  above  discourse 
the  Half-King  got  up  and  spoke: 

"  JS'ow,  my  brother,  in  regard  to  v:hat  my  brother  the  Governor 
had  desired  of  me,  I  return  you  this  answer: 

"  I  rely  upon  vou  as  a  brother  ought  to  do,  as  you  say  we  are 
brothers  and  one  people.     AV^e  shall  put  heart  in  hand  and  speak 


18  Fort  Presque  Isle  lay  near  the  site  of  tbc  present  Erie,  and  extensive  earth- 
works can  still  be  seen. 

14  Fort  Le  Boeuf.or  Fort  de  la  Riviere  aux  IJa?ufs.  See  Washington's  descrip- 
tion of  it  under  date  of  December  13.  Tt  stood  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Le  Bceuf, 
about  fourteen  miles  southeasi  of  Erie,  near  the  present  village  of  Waterford, 
^vhere  its  ruins  are  still  to  be  seen. 


The  Half-Khufs  Answer.  •    "  '    '        . 

to  our  fathers,  the  Freneli,  concerning  the  speech  they  made  to 
nie;  and  you  may  depend  that  we  will  endeavor  to  be  yom- 
guard.  '  ^      • 

"Brother,  as  you  have  asked  my  advice,  I  hope  you  will  he 
ruled  by  it,  ami  stay  nntil  I  can  provide  a  company  to  go  with 
yon.  The  French  speech-belt  is  not  here;  I  have  to  go  tor  it  to 
my  hunting-cabin.  Likewise,  the  people  whom  I  have  ordcrei.1 
in  are  not  yet  come,  and  cannot  until  the  third  night  from  this;. 
until  which  time,  brother,  I  must  beg  you  to  stay. 

"  I  intend  to  send  the  guard  of  Mingoes,''  Shannoahs  and  Del- 
awares,^*  that  our  brothers  may  see  the  love  and  loyalty  we  bear 
them." 

As  I  had  orders  to  make  all  possible  dispatch,  and  waiting  here 
was  very  contrary  to  my  inclination,  I  thanked  him  in  the  most 
buitable  manner  I  could,  and  told  him  that  my  business  retpiired 
the  greatest  expedition,  and  would  not  admit  of  that  delay,  lie 
was  not  well  please<l  that  1  should  offer  to  go  betbre  the  time  lie 
had  appointed,  and  told  me  that  he  could  not  consent  to  our  go- 
ing without  agwird,  for  fear  some  accident  t-liould  befall  us  and 
draw  a  reflection  ui»on  him.  JJesides,  said  lie,  this  is  a  matter  oi' 
110  small  moment,  a'ld  must  not  be  entered  into  without  due  con- 
eiotTation;  for  I  intend  to  deliver  uji  the  French  speech-belt  and 
make  the  Shannoahs  and  Delawares  do  tl>e  same.  And  accord- 
ingly he  gave  orders  to  King  Shiiigiss,  who  was  ]U'esent.  Ui  at- 
tend on  AWnhu'sday  night  with  the  wampiiiu,  and  two  men  of 
their  nation  to  be  in  readiness  to  set  out  with  us  the  next  morn- 
ing. As  I  found  it  was  impossible  to  get  otf  without  atl'rontiug^ 
them  in  the  most  egregious  manner,  T  consented  to  stay. 

I  gave  them  back  a  string  ()f  wamjtum  which  1  met  with  at 
Mr.  Frazier's,  and  whicli  they  sent,  with  a  speech,  to  his  Iloiior^ 
the  Crovernor,  to  inform  him  that  three  nations  of  French  Indian.-,. 

15  MiniTfx's.  The  Mcni^wc,  Minqims,  or  Mingops,  won'  pioiioilv  llic  .\nil:u-. 
tfs  or  (iaiula.sloij;iU's,  the  Iiiilian.s  of  ( "oiicstoijii,  on  lln,'  Sus(|ii(  liaiiua,  known  hy* 
the  furnu'r  name  to  tlic  AlaoiKiuiiih  and  their  allies,  ilie  Dutch  ami  S\v((l(  s  ;iiiiS 
l)y  the  lornier  to  the  Five  Nations  and  tlie  En!j;li>h  of  New  York.  Tlu'  .Min y- 
lanch'is  knew  them  as  the  Siisijuchaiinas.  Upon  their  rednciion  l>y  the  FIm.- 
Nations,  in  l(i72,  alter  a  loni^  war,  the  Andastes  were  to  i  ureal  evti'iit  miiinleik 
with  tiieir  eon(|iirrt»rs,  and  a  party  reiuovinfj  to  the  «>hio.con>inoii!y  e.iiii'd  .Min- 
|J()o^;,\vas  tliMs  made  iijt  of  Irofpiois  and  Minii'oes.  'i'lif  <  <  h  hraldl  J,o;j;an  was  ;i 
real  Andaste.  Many  treat  AI  in  go  us  synonynioiiji  with  .Mohiiwk  or  Irotjiuii ., 
but  erroneously. 

l(t  Delawares.  This  w«'ll  known  Irihe  was  a  small  Aliron(|uiii  initioii,  laliiii!^ 
itself  i.iiiiu  I.enape.  Tli<'\'  \vi'rr>  early  siihdiied  hy  the  Five  Nulion;*,  ami 
Sti'ined  to  have  aetiuireii  the  (  nnsiderahle  historic  plai'e  they  occupy  nioref Uni 
the  ferlilit;' <il  'i.eir  traditionaiy  minil  than  from  important  deeds  in  war  or 
peace,  luoui  earlier  histories  they  a.ssinne  >ri.iranli(  iinportunee,  and  tlnii  nii- 
gTtttionu  and  wara  we  detailed  at  |en>rlh.  Tliesc  are,  howtvur,  very  (htubtliil 
That  they  are  a  branch  of  the  II  inois.  enii'.'ratin.y;  (i>  th«'  eilM,  stems  probaliks 


Amval  oj-  Monacatoocha.  17 

namely,  Cliippuwari,^'  Ottawas'^  and  Orundaks,^®  had  taken  up  the 
liatchet  against  the  English,  and  desired  tliein  to  repeat  it  over 
again.  But  this  they  postponed  doing  until  they  met  iu  full 
council  with  the  Shannoah  and  Delaware  chiefs.  '  ,      ; 

*  .  NOVEMBER  2T. 

E.unners  were  dispatched  very  early  for  the  Shannoah  chiefs. 
The  Half-King  set  out  himself  to  fetch  the  French  speech-belt 
from  his  hunting-cabin. 

NOVEMBER  28. 

He  returned  this  evening,  and  came  with  Monacatoocha  and 
two  other  sachems  to  my  tent,  and  begged  (as  they  liad  complied 
with  his  Honor  the  Governor's  recpu'st,  in  providing  men,  &C.) 
to  know  on  what  business  we  were  going  to  the  IrtMieli.  Tin* 
was  a  question  I  had  all  along  expected,  and  had  provided  as  sat- 
isfactory answers  as  I  coidd;  which  allaved  their  curiosity  a 
little. 

Monacatooche  informed  me  that  an  Indian  fntiu  Venango 
brouirlit  news  a  few  davs  ni^o  that  the  French  had  called  all  the 
Mii.goes,  Delawares.  Arc,  tugcther  at  that  place,  and  told  them 
that  they  intended  t<>  have  been  down  the  river  this  fall,  but 
the  waters  were  growing  coUl  and  the  winter  advancing,  which 
obliged  them  to  go  into  quarters;  but  that  they  might  assiireclly 
expect  them  in  the  spring  with  a  far  greater  munber;  ami  de- 
sired that  tiiey  might  be  (juite  passive  and  .lot  intermeddle  unless 
they  had  a  mind  to  draw  all  their  force  upon  ihem;  tor  that  they 
expected  to  fight  the  English  three  years,  (^a;>  they  supposed  there 

17  Tlio  Cliii)p('\v,is  wore  first  known  to  the  Ficneli,  as  Otcliiboiu's,  iinswt'rinp 
to  the  nuKlcrn  form  Ojiliway, or  (^tchipwi'.  Tlievarc  an  .Vljfon(|nin  trihc,  whoso 
residenci'  Wiis  at  Sault  Sic.  Slaric,  wIriici'  tli«  later  French  cull  Ihem  Sauleux, 
men  of  the  Saull.  Their  lanjiuatre,  traditions  and  ( ii>toms  have  lnea  more 
thoron.i^hly  studied  tlian  those  of  any  other  of  our  Indian  iriU'S. 

IH.  The  Uttawus  were  another  Aljfonquin  tribe,  found  on  Lake  Ontario,  lliey 
formed,  wIk'H  first  known,  two  branches,  tlie  Kiskakons  ami  Simigoes,  and  wero 
remarkably  errant.  Their  fires  were  li;iiileil  at  diUcnnl  times, from  Chatcoime- 
fron  to  Detroit.  They  an^  now  'liiciiy  on  the  eastirn  shore  of  J-ake  Mi(  hi^'an. 
Their  language  Injars  u  very  clos<!  resemblance  to  the  Ujibwii. 

19  The  Onuulaks  tire  evidently  (he  Adirondacks  of  New  York  writers',  the 
Algontjuin  of  the  French  .\dirondaek  is  a  Mohawk  t<'rm,  tneaninu:  "  they  eat, 
trees,"  from  karonia,  "  trie,"  and  iraks,  "he  eats."  A  small  village  of  ilieiii 
Htill  exists  at  the  l/ake  of  the  Two  Moimtauis,  »'anada  Fa.-I  They  were  hered- 
itary eni'mies  of  the  Five  Nations,  and  their  a.lianee  with  die  IIuroii:i  drew  Hut 
latter  into  a  war  in  wiiieh  ijoth  wore  utterly  pruslrated  by  the  great  eonfedfr». 
tion  of  New  York. 


^  , .  De  ay  of  the  IndiaTis. 

would  l)e  some  attempts  made  to  stop  tliem),  in  which  time  they 
diould  conquer;  but  that  if  they  should  prove  equally  strong, 
they  and  tlie  Eiiglisli  would  join  to  cut  them  all  on  and  divide 
the  land  between  them;  that  thongh  they  had  lost  their  general 
and  si»nie  few  of  their  soldiers,  yet  there  Avere  men  euough  to  re- 
inforce them  and  make  them  masters  of  the  Ohio. 

This  speech,  he  said,  was  delivered  to  them  by  one  Captain 
Joncaire,^  their  interj)reter-in-chief,  living  at  Venango,  and  a 
man  of  note  in  the  army. 

NOVEMBER  29. 

The  Half-King  and  Monacatonrha  came  very  early  and  begged 
me  to  stav  one  dav  more,  for  notwithstandinj;  thev  had  used  all 

..."  o  t 

the  diligence  in  their  ])()wer,  the  Shannuah  chiefs  had  not  brought 
the  wam])um  they  ordered,  but  would  certaiidy  be  in  to-night;  if 
not,  they  would  delay  me  no  longer,  but  would  send  -it  after  us 
as  soon  as  they  arrived.  When  1  found  them  so  j>ressiiig  in  their 
request,  and  knew  that  the  returning  of  wamjinm  was  the  abol- 
ishing of  agreements,  and  giving  this  n|»  was  shaking  otf  all  de- 
pendence upon  the  Ei'ench,  I  consented  to  stay,  as  I  believed  an 
otfence  offered  ar  thit-  crisis  might  i)e  attendee]  with  greater 
ill  consequence  than  aruttlier  ilay's  delay.  They  also  infornu'd 
Jiie  tliat  Shingiss  could  not  get  in  Ids  men,  and  was  prevented 
from  coming  liim>clf  by  his  wife's  sickness,  (I  believe  by  fear  of 
the  French),  but  thai  tlic  wajupum  of  that  nation  was  lodged 
with  Kustalogo,  one  <tf  their  chief's,  at  Venango. 

In  the  evening,  late,  they  came  agaiu  and  acquainted  me  that 
the  Shamioahs  •■■«'re  not  yet  arrived,  but  that  it  should  not  retard 
tin'  prosccut'  of  our  journey.  He  "lelivered  in  my  hearing 
the  spee«'h  thiti  ,vas  to  be  made  to  the  French  by  Jeskakake,  one 
ol'  tlicir  old  chicfh.  which  was  giving  up  the  belt  the  late  com- 
ni:iiid;int  had  askt«i  for  and  ifpeating  nearly  the  same  speecli  he 
himself  had  doni'  before. 

He  also  deli\eie(l  antriiig  »»!  wampum  to  thiis  chief,  which  was 


20  No  n.'imc  fit.nir(>  inurp  pxtpn^lvrlr  In  mir  Imnlfr  history  than  the  Plnur  dfl 
.loiiiiiiri'.  ttilliir  aiitl  mhi,  <it  xOhmu.  Ihivvimi,  riiiu|i.ii'ali\i'ly  littlr  is  kituwii.  'I'ln! 
t'liriiie'i'  liuil  lii'i'ii  a  pii^iiiiri  ill  iIh'  IiuihU  ot  ilir  Niirra-.  iiiiii  iKJiijitiil  In  ilu'in 
UH  ruiiy  Mh  I7*M).  uml  in  that  )v.\\  tins  :i.-ki  i|  ih.it  he  chouiil  uu  to  Ihcir  raiitoii 

to  lllllltip)     tt'llllb  of    |»<I1)'<-.   Uhll'll   III     llilj    »il||   hlll'ilnM        in   nil    !;l|llMI|lll  III    liailH 

iu'ti!iit»  will)  till  li'0(|iiois  lit' jtluy^  a  ( on<|>ii  iiuiik  {mrt,  lii»  Imtiaii  nitltiruli/.a- 
tioii  mulijiit.'  it  inipossilili'  tor  tltc  Knu:li^ll  authoiiiiin  to  ohtuin  lii-^  <  x|>iili4ioii 
C'liarh'voix.  Ili»l  Soiinlli  t'ninri,  ii ,  244  M't  Ih'  wai*  u|i|»ariiil!>  the  flrsl 
Kiiro|><-aii  wlio  I  x.iiniiiKl  tin  oil  h|)riii<j»i  icciiitly  riintiiiil  ho  itrohtalil"  liiii 
hoti  lilt- Joncain  ol  Uiih  lilttry.  (oiitlimiMl  iiix  t'utluj'H  iiiHuiiin  uiiton^  lUt;  Hut- 
vi-u*-  iiti  Hhiiliy.  Unu  ut  Obmij^u,  iii  nfi5,  liiilui;tHl  ibcili  to  ordut  htm  U>  di<i>itr|, 
--buijlli  B  .Vf<r  i  ../A  ,«!    IHiMJi.  i ,  'i'H. 


Arrival  at   Veuaugo.  19 

sent  by  Kinj^  Shingiss,  to  be  given  to  Ivustalogo,  with  orders  to 
repair  to  the  French  and  deliver  up  the  wampum. 
.  He  likewise  gave  a  very  large  string  of  black  and  white  wam- 
pum, which  was  to  be  sent  up  immediately  to  the  Six  Nations  if 
the  French  refused  to  quit  the  land  at  this  warning,  which  was 
the  third  and  last  time,  and  was  the  right  of  this  Jeskakake  to 
•deliver. 


NOVEMBER  30. 


Last  night  the  great  men  assembled  at  their  council-honse  to 
cont^nlt  further  about  this  juui'iiey  uTid  who  were  to  go;  the  re- 
sult of  which  was  that  only  three  of  their  chiefs,  with  one  of 
their  best  hunters,  should  be  our  convoy.  The  reason  they  gave 
for  not  sending  more,  after  Mhat  had  been  ])roposed  at  council 
the  li(!tli,  was  that  a  greater  number  might  give  the  French  sus- 
picions of  some  bad  design  and  cause  them  to  be  treated  rudely, 
hut  1  rather  thiidc  they  could  not  get  tlieir  hunters  in. 

Wf  set  out  about  nine  o'clock,  with  the  Half-King,  Jeskakake, 
White  Thunder,  and  tlie  Hunter,  and  traveled  on  the  road  to 
Yenango,  where  we  arrived  the  4th  of  December,  without  any- 
tiiing  remarkable  happening  but  a  continued  series  of  bad 
weather. 

This  is  an  old  Indian  town,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  French 
Creek,  on  the  Ohio,  and  lies  near  north  about  sixty  miles  from 
th(!  I.oijbtown,  but  iuore  than  seventv  the  way  we  were  obliijed 
tt>  go. 

Wo  found  the  Frendi  colors  hoisted  at  a  house  from  which 
th<y  liad  driven  ^Ir.  J  (dm  Fra-ifi'.  an  Englisii  subject.  I  ininns 
diat<  ly  repaintl  to  it  to  kn<»\v  when'  the  commander  resided. 
There  were  til ree  otlicirs,  one  of  whom,  Cajitain  Joneair*',  in- 
formed me  that  lit;  hud  tlu;  counuand  of  the  Ohio,  but  that  thertj 
wa>  ii  general  otlicer  at  the  near  fort,  where  lie  advised  me  to  ap- 
])ly  for  an  an>\v«'r.  lie  invited  us  to  tiup  with  them  and  treated 
us  with  the  greatest  eomplai^anee. 

The  wine,  a-  tiny  doned  theniK'lves  pretty  j>|entitull\  with  it, 
goon  l)unidhed  the  restraint  which  at  lii-At  appearetl  in  tlieir  con- 
ver^ation  and  gavi'  ti  licunt>e  to  their  tongui;n  to  rev«'al  their  kuii- 
tiiuents  more  freely. 

Titey  t^jld  me  that  it  wuh  their  uhndute  detii|^n  ti»  tjtke  |h>mim'4- 
Rion  of  the  Ohio,  and  bv  (i  they  would  do  it,  lor  that,  although 
they  were  w.'iisible  the  l'!nj<li»>h  eoidd  raise  two  men  for  their  one, 
yoi  they  knew  their  inotiouM  were  too  stow  nnd  dilatory  to  ftre.. 
¥«nt  Kny  underiuking  of  theirii.    The)'  prutiitU  to  htivu  an  un- 


20  The  French   Forts  and  Garrisons. 

doubted  right  to  the  river  from  a  discovery  made  ])yoneLaSalle^^ 
sixty  years  ago,  and  tlie  rise  of  this  expedition  is  to  ])reveTit  our 
settling  on  tlie  river  or  waters  of  it,  as  they  lieard  oH  sonic  fam- 
ilies moving  out  in  order  thereto,  f'l'om  the  best  intelligence  1 
could  get,  there  have  been  fifteen  hundved  men  on  this  side  On- 
tario Lake,  but  upon  the  death  of  the  general  all  were  recalletl. 
to  about  six  or  seven  hundred,  who  wi^re  left  to  garrison  four 
forts,  one  hundred  and  hfty  or  thereabout  in  each.  Tluj  tii'st  of 
them  is  on  French  Creek,^^  near  a  small  lake,  about  sixty  miles 
from  Venango,  near  north  northwest;  the  next  lies  on  Lake 
Erie,^^  where  the  greater  part  of  their  stores  are  kept,  about  fif- 
teen miles  from  the  uther;  from  this  it  is  one  luiiidre<l  and  twenty 
miles  to  the  carrying  place,  at  the  falls  of  Lake  Erie,  where  ther« 
is  a  small  fort,'^  at  which  they  lodge  their  goods  in  [)ringing 
them  from  Montreal,  the  place  fntiu  whence  all  their  stores  are 
brought.  The  next  fort  lies  al)out  twenty  miles  from  this,  on 
Ontario  Lake.^  Between  this  f)rt  and  Montreal  there  are  three 
others,  the  tir&t  of  which'-*  is  nearly  ()i)p^if-ite' to  the  iMiglish  fort 
Oswego.  From  the  fort  on  Lake  Erie  to  Montreal  is  about  six 
hundred  miles,  which,  they  say,  recjiiires  no  more  (if  good 
weather)  than  four  weeLs'  \oyage,  if  they  go  in  harks  or  large 
vessels,  so  that  they  may  cr(»,-s  tlie  lake;  hut  if  thet  conu;  in  ca- 
noes it  will  re(juire  live  or  six  weeks,  for  they  a,'e  obliged  to  keep 
under  the  shore, 

DECEMBER  5. 

Rjiined  excessively  all  day,  wlii<'h  prevented  our  traveling.  Cap- 
tain .Ittncaire  sent  for  the  Half-King,  as  lie  jiad  but  just  heard 
that  h«'  came  with  me.  !Ie  affected  to  he  mueh  eoaeenied  that 
1  did  not  makt-  free  to  hring  them  in  het'ore.  1  e\cu,-ed  it  in  the 
best  manner  of  whieli  1  was  i-apabje,  and  toM  him  1  did  not 
think  their  eoni|iany  agntalde.  as  I  iutd  lieaid  him  say  a  gooit 
deal  in  dispi'ai.--e  .if  hidiau.-  in  gi-neral;  Imt  anothei-  motive  pre- 
vented me  froui  I.M-inging  theui  into  hin  company;   I    knew    iJiat 

31   liii  Hiillr      I{ii1mH  (  ,iv  ilii  r  lie  La  Kiilh',   ii   i-«  lotowii,  JuIIuai  .1  ii|i  ;lii  'li,« 
«i)\iryi>l'  MiiKjUi'lii  iunl  .!iili((,  iiiid  in    ll}w:»  i1i-m  t  ihh-iI   iIh    Mi     i-   11411   lu  lt<« 
mouth,  v^lihli  III- II  111  Im-iI '111  ill'- Hill 'i!  A|H-il.     H<' |'l  iiiti  il  ilir  .iiu  •  mI   I'luiirn 
tti|i|  KKik  |)i»'   .  -Mill  i»l  llir    liviT  ttiul   ill)  Hir   (.Miiiiiv  v\.turi(|    hy  it  uinl  iin 
bnuii  Ik'c    Till    <  Ml  iii|<(|  (lie  Fnitt  It  1  In i in  in  (In   In  ud  «uirii»<>r  iIm-  \II< '.'liuiiy 
Aiiit  Mouougiiln  la     Sir  ■   Tlu'  Dintuviiy  uiol  J'!jk(i!uruiiun  nl  llir  Mi--i-»i|»!ii 
»u«d  i4ui-rit»lvn  ihiii  uiMit      I'lcvioan  to  Uil«t  4Ji«l  u|<}>iiri uHy  uImmii  Kiiii  Tl    l.it 
HhIU*  hud  ri;i«l»'<l  III!  (Miio  IroiJi  iIm*  M««iiiiit  miuitry,  jiihI  il' «<  <  mini   h   u,  Uh 
hillM  ul  Luiibvilh'.     N'l)  iiurmllvc  of  thin  vinu^f  )>•  1  \ltMil,  Imh  Id  •  hum-  lu  hitvi 
llnut  m)  iti  mUHv  thM  liiiu  tll»,  ttiul  mitJM»  tjliiwii  l»y  Jeliit  r<<»»gliU''  hi»  1  Uiui,  iiUtl 
Hmnmi jfrMw-h  iittiiti-k  inuittlitiii  i) 

tt  Fwt  1^' iiiinil  iW  ^'uit  i'ri!M|Ui!  I»l«.  'il  Kill  Niiigaf*. 


More  Delay.  21 

he  was  an  interpreter  and  a  person  of  very  great  inflnerwe  among 
the  Indians,  and  had  lately  used  all  possible  means  to  draw  them 
over  to  his  interest;  therefore  I  was  desirous  of  giving  him  no 
opportunity  that  could  be  avoided. 

When  they  came  in  there  was  great  pleasure  expressed  at  see- 
ing them,  lie  wondered  how  they  could  be  so  near  without 
coming  to  visit  him,  made  several  trifling  presents,  and  u])plied 
liquor  so  fast  that  they  were  soon  rendered  incapable  of  the  bu.si- 
ness  .they  came  about,  notwithstanding  the  caution  which  was 


given  ^^ 


V  •  DECEMBER  6. 

The  Half-King  came  to  my  tent  quite  sober  and  insisted  very 
much  that  I  should  stay  and  hear  what  he  had  to  siiy  to  the 
French.  I  fain  woukl  have  prevented  him  from  speaking  any- 
thing until  he  came  to  the  commandant,  I)ut  couhl  not  prt'vail. 
H(!  t(jld  me  that  at  this  place  a  council  fire  was  kindh'd,  uhere 
all  their  business  with  these  j)eopie  was  t<»  be  transactiMJ.  and  that 
the  managemeut  of  the  Indian  affairs  was  h-i't  s(»lely  to  AIou- 
nieur  -foiicairi'.  As  I  was  desirous  of  knowing  the  issue  ai  thi.'*, 
[agreed  to  ^-tay;  but  sent  unr  horr-es  a  little  way  up  i'^rcnch 
Creek,  to  raft  over  and  encamp,  which  1  knew  would  make  it 
near  night. 

AlK)Ut  ten  o'clock  they  met  in  council.  The  King  spoke  nuicU 
tlu)  same  as  he  had  betore  <lom'  to  the  (ieneral,  ami  olfticd  thu 
French  speech-belt  which  had  before  been  d«'mandi'<l,  with  the 
marks  (jt  four  towns  on  It,  which  .Monsiiiir  Joncaire  refused  t»> 
rtJceive,  but  desired  him  to  carry  it  to  the  fort  to  the  comiminder. 

DKCKMIJKU  7. 

Monsieur  Li  Force,  Coinmiiisary  of  the  French  stores,  and 
three  itthcr  suldi*  |•^,  cuiim-  iiv»  r  to  accDUipauy  us  lip.  Wi-  tnund 
it  extremely  ditlicult  to  j»t.-t  the  iniiiun»  ott'to-duy,  »»  every  i»lrttt- 
iigem  had  been  u«cd  to  prevent  their  going  up  with  nie.  I  had 
It^t  night  lel't  .lobn  l)avi<lnuit  I  the  Indian  inti  rpreter),  whiuii  i 
\imi  brought  with  me  from  town,  and  Btrietly  chur^eti  him  not  to 

J7  liiM.ln  bill  juwmitl,  hfr«- n.it, -  "Our  Imllaiju  w<  »•  ,»  iiiiuMil  ^*iil»  il»« 
|)t'luMiiii#,  whu  lived  uiiilir  Ui>  i  i'  i  '  \>  •uliitM,  uml  uti|i|ti|  ilittn  lu  id  liwi  ii|» 
to  till'  i-'lrn>  li  III!  Ih  il  v^illl  IIk'  IllUlk^iil  liii  tiilil  litwiio^  lUKMiliii^  i<.  i  >•• 
of  Klajf  KliiiiKi'-s      HnMlti-  t  ld«  t  i»t  liir««'   |»t  lii(»,i(i  s  -iijil       ji  hi*,  n  < 

Hiiliij/i^-)  MiiM  tt  i^ri  ill  in  ill   iMii  lie  Imti  M  1)1  iMi  »|Hi  t  II  li<       I   '  >i i 

Ktiiiid  111  iiiitki' i» -jM"  it  i"i  .»  fcliia  '    Htiittir  h<«lliiii    '  '  in.MiniiU 

ill)  lo  ill  ltv<.*r  itM-ir  U'il,  but  \Uu  IMi  KUin  liUi  itvlivM  ki»  U It  a^  !•>   h>»|  ^ 


32  Le  Gardeur  de  St.  Pierre. 

l)e  out  of  their  company,  as  I  could  not  get  them  over  to  my 
tent;  for  they  had  some  business  wlthKustalogo,  chiefly  to  know 
Avliy  he  did  not  deliver  up  the  French  speech-helt  which  he  had 
ill  keeping;  but  I  was  obliged  to  send  Mr.  Gist  over  to-day  to 
■fetch  them,  which  he  did  with  great  persuasion. 

At  twelve  o'clock  we  set  out  for  the  fort,  and  were  preventetl 
arriving  there  until  the  11th  by  excessive  rains,  snows,  and  bad 
traveling  through  many  mires  and  swamps.  These  we  were 
obliged  to  pass  to  avoid  crossing  the  creek,  which  was  impassa- 
Me,  either  by  fording  or  rafting,  the  water  was  so  high  and 
rapid. 

We  passed  over  much  good  land  since  wo  left  Venango,  and 
througu  several  exten.-''\e  and  very  rich  meadows,  one  of  which, 
I  believe,  was  nearly  f>ur  miles  in  length  and  considerably  wide 
in  home  places. 

DECKMBEU  12. 

I  prepared  early  to  wait  uj)on  the  Conunander,  and  was  re- 
••eived  and  conducted  to  him  l»v  the  second  oflict'r  in  commaiul. 
1  iU-quaiutod  jiim  with  my  business  and  offered  him  my  coiiuiiis- 
bion  and  lettfi-,  l)otli  of  wliidi  he  desired  me  to  keeji  until  Jlie 
iirrival  of  Monsieur  Ueparti.  captain  at  the  next  fort,  who  was 
>ent  for  and  expected  every  iioiir. 

Tills  Commander  if  a  Knight  of  the  military  order  of  St. 
Louis,  and  named  Le  (iardeiir  de  St,  I'lerre,'*  III*  is  an  eldctrly 
l^eiitieniuii  and  huh  iniieh  (lie  air  ot'  a  soldier.  lie  was  fv.ni  over 
!o  take  the  eommand  immetjiately  upon  the  deatii  of  the  luUi 
iltjiural.  and  arrivi-d  jiere  altoiit  sevr-n  days  ljefi»re  me. 

At  two  o'eloek  the  geiit'eiiian  wito  wa»  oeiil  tor  arrived,  when  I 
<»jferi'd  tiie  left-r,  »ke..  again,  wliieji  tla-y  received  mi*\  adjourne«i 
iitl"  a  private  apartnteiit  for  the  (  uptain  lo  tranolate,  who  under. 
i»t<MMl  a  liitif  i'!n|/ii^li.  After  he  \m\  lUnm  It  tluiiJaiiimaiider  dif* 
kiretj  1  H'oiiln  widk  in  and  bring  my  jnterpritrr.  ti>  |ieruo4t  and 
«M»rnM!t  if,  wliieli  I  tljd 


P  f#  thmh'W  lit'  til  \*\tiitv     J\w  HiuWf  ttt  is>  (iiutktur^  tit  |M'iiii^N}r  4ii 
IMWWilKt  ff*m  fiiii't  i>'  U^^l4  ai'.  NUur  •!<    \Unn<ui''  •>  itf  (lie  i  irliutt  ml> 

#H4* iN<«*' i^'ttiu      Mr  I'Vrituttl  iu  iii»  "  N'ol<«>  on  I       i      Hif  ol  l/u"  Im.  "  |» 

I  t  fs  w (ir  id   Hf»    l''t'Hii<-    t;i»tii   iiM(l-)iutfi  )<>    \  iiiil 

Im'II     '  ■■>      Tin    Ml!  'I  11,  I     I  .    ",  H«j 

*<UI   li'^   i)U^|M  III  1UII|,  till)    III   Ul<     M  III  I    l>t    llll,  I'llllt     4tHJ 

t«  l»|<j"0'  "lt>    lUt!  IMHM  kUKWII    l«"     M       <i«      l«>        I  ,    i,  .:..     1  !     Itl     |Utl««i| 

I' III  i       f^  otjmtam  M^i'4  U   dt  lti|><  km   ir>    uuultl  atitui.  In/tKDki'r  Iw  w 

twbiMk^  i--  ■  •  If  mpunar  Wii«tjigi<Mi •  tnmf 


Description  of  the  Fort.  25 

DECEMBEU  13. 

The  cliief  officors  retired  to  li(»I(l  a  council  of  war,  wIiicTi  ^ave 
liie  an  ojtportiiiiity  of  taking  the  dinieiii-ion.s  of  tlie  fort  and 
making  what  ohservations  I  coiiKl. 

It  is  tituated  on  the  south  or  west  tork  of  French  CJi-eek,  near 
the  water,  and  is  ahno>>t  isurnniiidcd  hy  the  creek  and  a  email 
branch  of  it,  which  lorni  a  kind  of  i.-ian<h  Funr  honse8  com- 
pose tlie  (sides.  Tlie  bastions  nr*^  nia<lr  i>1k  pih-s  driven  into  th(^ 
ground,  standing  more  than  iwclvc  t"t<'t  alxivr  it,  and  sjiarp  at 
top,  with  jiort-hoh's  (!ut  for  cannon,  and  loop-lmU's  for  the  smali 
arms  to  fire  tliroiigli.  There  are  eight  six-pound  pieces  mounted 
in  each  bastion,  and  one  piece  (»f  four  pounds  lulore  tlit  gate,  lu 
the  liastions  are  a  guard-house,  (•haj»el,  ductorV  hidgiii;^,  ami  tlio 
Commantler'n  private  store,  round  wlufh  art;  hiid  plattornjs  for 
the  cannon  and  men  to  stand  on.  There  are  several  barraekt* 
without  the  f /rt.  fu'  tiie  soldii'r.s'  dwellings,  covered.  Mtuie  with 
bark  and  .-onie  with  boards,  made  ehitlly  ot"  logs.  'I'here  are  alb<> 
several  other  houses,  such  us  stable.'?,  smith's  shoji,  Arc. 

I  conltl  get  no  «'ertain  aci-ount  of  the  nund»er  nf  men  here,  but 
according  lo  tht:  be.~l  judgment  I  euuid  form,  there  are  ;i  huu- 
dre^l,  I'xciusive  of  otiiceih,  of  wh'iiu  Uiere  are  nuinv.  I  al.^o  guvn 
onh-rs  tolhe  people  who  were  wiih  me  5m  tfike  an  exact  account 
of  till'  i-anoe,-,  wiiii'h  were  hauled  up  lo  eunvey  ihi'ir  lurcci*  dowit 
in  the  si>r:ng.  This  they  di<l,  and  t</!ij  hli^  ..f  birch  baik  ami  « 
liuudjeil  iind  seventy  of  pine,  liei»jde»  mum)  utlitrtt  whieh  wuru 
bloekcii  (iut  in  rejuliiieo.''  f*r  being  made. 

\)VXVM\WM  U. 

Am  thi)  Mtow  i||iWiiil4  Vt^rv  h»t  uitd  our  hornM  dallv  iitMiHRe 
wt'ttker,  i  sent    them   olt'  unlmdid,   uuder  titM  ciiri*  ot  Httrntitijr 

riirrin  and  )  uo  others,  to  nuike  ujj   eonseident    lilnpuleh   If   V'm 


itim^o  and  ijiere  in  Mail  our  arrivHl  d  ibiO'  vmm  4  pruMx  >  i  ^A  \\m 
rivcrV  tm'jcin^;   H  itot.  riiiit  Ui  mui\mm  tUmi  in  h\  I'i 

Toli^U,  Ul   llie  fork  of  l||i-  Ojito,  Mliil  (bei^    Ut  Wlllt    HHiil  HI 

i  Umi  tl»e  •«»  or  t*r*. 

Ai  (  found  iiiuny  pioi  I  to  MMrtl   t\w   IftfllMM*'  \mt\ 

jUMMi  and  pn  \.  ■  )  (f    ■:  ,,,  ,^^    ,iiib   im^j  i  . :  f    :•    rt- i     n  ,i    , 

fcy  ill  iij.y  j'o..  .  ■"  iiu  )i  M  lu'Hit-if  tn 

i4lt«i«i    '         ;  ul  Itoiiin  'i 

HiUf  Kiiijl  (444  um  tliKt  b       I    •4  tli«  'ik* 


!24 


French  Stratagem  fo  Detain  the  liu1i<niH. 


love  and  frieii(l>;liip;  said  lie  wanted  to  live  in  j((>;ice  and  trade 
amicably  with  them,  as  a  ])roi)t'  of  which,  he  would  wend  nome 
jroods  immediately  down  to  the  ].o<r,stown  lor  them.  ]>ut  I  rather 
think  the  denign  of  that  is  to  bring  away  all  our  btraggling  trad- 
ers they  meet  with,  as  I  privately  underi«tood  they  intended  to 
•earry  an  officer  with  them;  and  what  rather  conlirm.s  this  ojiin- 
ion,  I  was  irujuiriiig  of  the  Commander  by  what  authority  he 
liad  made  priMmers  of  several  of  our  JuiglisJi  subjects;.  IleVold 
me  that  the  country  belonged  to  them;  that  n<»  Knglii^hman  ha<i 
H  riglit  to  ti'ade  upon  those  wati-rs,  and  that  he  had  (O'dcrs  to 
make  vM'xy  jjcrson  prisoner  who  attempte«l  it  on  the  Ohio  or  the 
waters  of  it. 

I  inijuired  of  Captain  I^'jmrti  a1»out  the  Iwiy  that  wa^  <'arried 
l>y  tiiis  j»hu*e,  as  it  \\m,  done  while  the  i-ommand  desolved  on 
him.  I>4'tween  the  death  of  the  late  gi-neral  and  the  arriuil  of  the 
'  t'oent.  Jle  ai'kiuiwledged  tliut  a  boy  h.ui  been  carried  pitst,  uud 
"that  till'  JndiaUH  had  two  or  three  while  menV  si-alps,  (I  w.is^  t4i|d 
by  some  of  tlie  lu'.Uan,-.  at  \  euaiigo,  eight),  but  pret.iided  U> 
have  forgotii  ii  fhe  n.-inie  (»!'  the  phu-e  when-  tli<  boy  ciinn  frirtii 
and  all  the  particului  lacir,  ili^.ogh  he  had  (jiie(.ti.Jn»'d  lilni  Utv 
froiije  jiourf  a^  they  were  eairving  liiui  past,  I  IiUcwih'  inijiiinitj 
what  they  hiul  dotie  w  itii  .lohn  'JVoih'r  tmd  .lauie^.  M'C|.H-kli«i, 
tHu  |*eMM».yJ\ania  innleri*,  whom  they  hiiil  lak«  ii  with  liti  i\mr 
good».  'i'hey  Jold  iiH  that  they  liud  bufll  Niil  to  Cuniula,  but 
Wi-n*  how  ri'lunied  ii-Min  . 

ThJ»«?veijiU{|  I  fic.  iv.d  an  mii»w«r  Uihh  Jluiior  iluliov.  \iHtf§ 
l^{\Mf  tri/iii  the  Coinuiamhtnt, 


H^  Commiiiidant  iphrMJ  a  ph  niituj  »)•  i,    u\  li.pii<r  mimI  \mt 

%|ii<(il    I'.    Im     p)H    "ll     bitiH'i     '-HI      iMIItu  Mill     itjipiMlid      111     b«-     t»| 

ll'rrH'lii  eoJMpt.O-MO)  ih-iiiyh  iu'  Wtt*  IM*  I'tm^i  t  ..  i^  ,.•  )|r»  HhM) 
lil  <i)llid  llsVent  \i>  k(  .,iii  (itJiuiiiD  ul  UirlMlti  .  n.ii,  i.  <  !.hm*|4I 
rti»  i|y  tllllil  <4b<  r    ■  Jlioi        ji.     -1.,!       i,  iij  ev 

'l^ryliUHg   Mhhii  eoliiii   |..       M      •.     i.  d  by  hlllJ  lit  !♦»*■      ■'!■■  ■  >  I    .  .(It 

mti  ms  thMl  !■»■»■»•  ill  lii .  '  h    i     H^M^  m  rnw'h  .*e  ■    •  I  .jfi 

■siiif.Hji.l    .  '  piiM'lit     ."  tt       Ij   H  limn  in 

tlltl4      I  '      ■'       >!i     '^ 

1    ^  ft  ^^^tfJLU^ 


.$iifwc4irf.     r«-«i»t  f.- 


iRbi   IP 


77/ (?  Tiititru  Commenci'fh  9S 

to  do.  l)iit  to  funvard  my  joimu'v  as  niiioli  ii8  lie  coiiM.  H«'  p,r«»- 
tt'Htcd  lii-  (lid  lint  l<('L'j»  tluiii.  Iiiit  w.i.-  i^ii(»rai!t  of  tin'  caiiM'  of 
tlieir  stay,  thou^li  I  soon  found  it  (nit.  He  had  |)i'<>iiii.-cd  tiu'iu 
!i  j)re.<(!iit  of  |^iiii>  if  tlifv  would  vsail  until  tlic  iiioriiiii^.  As  I 
was  VL'iy  luiicli  jmssL'tl  h\  \\v  Iitdiaii>  to  wail  tliih  da\  for  llii'iii, 
I  coiit<eiit(.'d,ou  u  jd'oiuiist' that  nothing'  should  hinder  thfiij  in  tho 


morumg. 


lJKCEMI!Kli   1<5. 


Tlio  Frt'iu'li  Mvvii  not  fehu*k  in  tjuif  invuntiotiej  t<»  Kctp  thi>  lu- 
diiini^  this  day  aUo.  Jhit  an  tlay  wi-ri'  ohli^i'd,  ai'fonlin^  to 
]iroiiii.-f,  to  tr'wK-  till'  |»ri  M  lit.  tin  y  tln-n  fiidiavortd  to  ti'y  thi* 
j>'<ui-r  of  liijiiof,  wjiich  1  do(d>t  not  woidd  ha\c  hnvaihd  at  any 
othfi- tinio  titan  thin*,  l»iil  i  nr^id  and  iuhii>ti;d  snth  tin  Kinj^  Mi 
«'|oM  ly  iipon  hi>  Word  that  he  ivfraint**!,  und  i»<;t  oil'  with  u»>,  u* 
jj«'  had  •iifi';i}Xi'd, 

\V«'  hail  a  lidioiia  iitid  very  fatiifuiiijr  (laentiiJt:''  duHii  tlu^  ut^tfb, 
^•vi'ial  tinii»(»  w»'  liiid  likrd  to  huvi'  Imiii  MtMVi'd  uynH'mA  t^^vkt^ 
atxl  mans  iinit>  m  r*  oltii<(id.  all  hundf.  to  ^<'t  out  and  rt'niaitt 
in  till'  uati'i-  halt  an  houc  )«i'  iiioi'i'.  ^i>lliitj/  ovi  r  ihr  i^ihoal*.  At 
otit'  |»liu'*  fli«^  ii't'  luid  io<||ji'd  Mild  inad<-  it  \m\M>'m^tU^  Uy  w^Uffi 
Wf  Wfi'f  tln'i'ifoi'n  ol»liiiid  to  ••ai'i'v  our  i-aiM**'  «<•»■<>"'  iIm'  n««<'l*  of 
iiiiid,  a  ijiiai'ti  I  ol  a  nid<  iiMi,  Wi  did  imH  rua*  h  \  >  nan{/i;o  tu4i| 
tlii  'i2d,  wIm  11   M<'  iiti't  Hiiii  otii'  hoi'iMw. 

Till*  ffv*'k  iii  t'Sitn'iiM'ly  v\'tntkM,     I  dui**'  Mt>   ilif  d^iuiuM'  \m 

tUl't'ti  tin    iilH   MImI   Vi  I    '! '     t'Mot  Im   ilJ<M»  liiUli  M|«M  iiuit<if<>jt|  mmI 

lhilt>  liiiU'*,  \^'  MWm  : :•<" 


|,P    it,,'    Wl.:       1" 

H 

IMid  "<^   '^ 

mid  i 

i 

1 

III'  UA 

O   di'WH 


l<«  KTO  wild  MVMT  ity  M'Ml^l'        ||*>  (muI 

■ill  t   ,.    .  1  •>  (l»   tttt'll 


(  #  (t 


All    JiuHdii  SfiitotM  at    Wiinh'iiKjton. 

Our  hoi>»-»  w»r«' iHiw  H»  wt'uk  hihI  li'flilf,  uml  ilir  i»aj;jj^MjLjf  h4» 
lnaw  (iih  vvi;  Win  ui»lijr<.<l  lu  lU'Hvidi'  silt  ilif  in<-f.-spiirj<»&  wliii-li 
llii' juiii'iH'V  svi»i)l<l  ri'ijiiin),  thai  wt-  <luul»t(<l  iinH'li  lln-ir  ju'd'onu- 
iiig  ii.  'riu-n  luci'  iiisn  ir  ami  oiliir«..  «'-Vi'<j.t  \\iv  lirivi-rM,  vvii«> 
wt*l'«  iibliift'l  tii  rill"',  ^iinf  ii|i  uiir  liui'wi*  tor  pack^.  t<>  achi^l  al'Mi/; 
willi  III*'  Uy:)ia|(f.  I  put  iiiswll'iu  au  lii.li.iii  ualkiii;;  <l^<-»^  aijd 
«'oii(iiiii4-4l  mill  III' III  tliriT  <lu\B.  iiiiiil  I  I'-iiikI  tiun'  wuri  iiu 
id'ubaliilily  i»l'  lluii' {tilting  Iniiuf  ill  aus  r.  ..  ..ii,il>|.  tiiiii.  'Ihc 
Jni)i»*«i»  Im'i'iiiim'  li'i»»  ul»h'  l'>  lluvi'l  run  <l,is.  till!  i.ild  iiM't'i'i(i»«'«l 
U'»»v  llMt,  iumI  iIh-  nmU  Wii'i'  b<'»'«iiuiii;/  iimmIi  H.<r-'  l<v  :i  dn-j. 
••Hiiw,  cKiiliuuiillv    iVri'igiiig;  ib4'r«'li»ri'.    •     I  '  •  i^'' 

liiM'k,  li(  iijiik*   u  j<u»l  ut  jiiv  ^utm'mHi'm^  i*t  hi*   I1'»m«»i    ll»«;*i'»* 
wftiiif,   I  <l.  (•  »»iii*«4  |j'  \»t'tm'rnU'  my  ymvtwf  i\m  iutMmi  wii> 
j^fiai^ii  lix    wuii^)*- Mil  I'imH 

A*'*»4ir<lii!yi^  1  !f(i  Ml    Sail  IJi.i.tui  ii)  t'liMfjr*' "'     '"  '"/ 
»ill»  jMoiiwy  «<i'i  ■"        ^     ^  i-rovMJi-   m  r«'..*ii»-ii  ^   ji-ui    ui  .  ■    im 

iAm'it' btv  iluUiftl        i;   ;  :  .  i*ii(J  ;•' Uiai's  ijo  »i.*»!  < ''(i**  iiniiJ 


f  Uutk  mf 

m$m4f  w|i  ill 
tm  tm  *'* ' 

wlf^i'll*    ' 


..I 


•  Ml 


n 


«  Ui  'J  ■ 


■■H0*<*i 


«  . 

.«»•'  i-< 

1<n»K«t  <-■ 

fijf 

I  , 


'^ISPP^^I^^^p 


3f  nil** 


.',  «|i#  ill' 
..#',  ,4.. 


.«)   HlMW  WW 

lii  i,— ifilMt 

ijariai  Iff  iMHi 


** 


On   a   Jl'ift. 


27 


lUToiifi  till'  roiiiitrv  lor  SiiuiiiiopinV  T<»\viii,  wr  ti-ll  in  with  a  j<urty 
of  Frfiicli  IiHliaiin.  who  hail  hiiii  in  wait  tor  ii^.  i)uv  of  thcin 
lir»'<!  at  Mr.  <»int  or  uw,  n<»t  tiftei'ii  bt«*j»rt  ntf,  hut  tortiiiia(t')y 
iitihet.*<l.  \Vf  took  thii^  ffllow  into  ciiftotly  and  kcjit  iiini  till  aiioiit 
nine  o'f  lock  at  ni^ht.thcn  jt-t  iiini  p*,  ami  vvalki-il  ail  tin  irniaiii- 
iii|;  |mrt  of  the  uifrht  uitlioiit  making;  unv  pto|>,  tlmt  wir  niiffht 
jjwt  fin*  wtart  ««o  far  in»  to  Im-  mit  i»f  tin*  ri'iu-h  ot'  tln'ir  jdMvnil  the 
iMi%i  «hi),  cinn-  w«-  vii-rt'  m-ll  a^»nr•'<|  tin-y  woiil<|  follow  i»iir  Irai'k 
itM  MMiti  ii*  it  wiiH  li(i[hl.  TIk'  ih'XI  *hi)  wi'  rontinufi  travt'liii^ 
until  i|iiil«- ijark,  ami  p*t  (•*  th*-  rivt-rahont  two  niiltf  al>o\i'  Khau- 
\ni\iin'm.  Wt:  fXiM-rti'"!  to  huvf  tound  tin-  rivrr  fro/i-n.  hut  it  witM 
if't,  oiily  uUtut  fifl\  vanlo  from  t-iu'li  (»hi*r<-.  Thr  ii-t-.  1  i>uji|m>ix% 
hwl  br:>Kiai  lip  ulioM*.  for  it  ytium  ilrivititf  in  vuitt  <(iMiiiitiii», 

Thrr*'  w»i»  no  way  for  jfi'ttin^  4*\»'r  hut  on  a  raft,  whii'h  H'« 
Mit  Mi>4>ut  with  hut  oM<'  |Nior  hul4'h«'l.  ami  tiniohcd  ju»l  uftrr  »iiii 
Mmlilg,  Till*  H<iji  H  whoti'iljtyV  Work;  ii««  iM?ikt  ((i>t  it  1miiii<')imi|, 
^•ji  wi  III  ..II  hiMtrd  of  it  an<i  »*•{  oH';  hut  U-forf  wi-  win-  hwlf 
Wm,^  'm-j  w<  M^rtf  JMiittnt'^l  Hi  thi-  U'f  in  )>ui'h  iiiuiiiM'r  liuil  w«j 
•ft{iiM«iiiil  MVifrv  iiM>»ti«nt  our  rai\  Ui  niitk  mjhI  imrmUi*»  in  imviJii^ 
i  iiiif  out  iity  mHliiiii  IM'U*  to  try  Ut  ■•(op  thf  rMt't,  that  uh*  ^m 
iiiM.ii  ,.,,.«  (ly,  Mrii««i<  (iM*  m{#<«lit^  <«t'  thi'  (tiftmm  lhr«'W  it  witli  «; 
itiii  it'iM'4M|CMiii»t  (h»  )4t#h«  tliMt  it  ii^rki^l  iiM^oiit  ifiio  t^i  6«*i 


'     ..11!     I    l!' 


n  .  hut 

Hid  miuIm  Kf  tt. 


..ii 


-f*.  m'  (^»iiM  fK«t 
iMHiM-  mi  i»lii#il| 


bf  Mi 

■  w 


'H«  'JifJ  ^* 


m  »" 


Miii    •*> 


:■<»*      !<H«i     (I'JJMI 


»»* 


lt» 


f 


28  Home  at   Last. 

The  cold  was  so  -  xtreinely  severe  that  Mr.  Gist  had  all  his 

fingers  and  some  of  liis  toes  fro;2en;  and  the  water  was  shut  up 

so  hard  that  we  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  oif  the  island  on 

the  ice  in  tlie  moruing,  and  went 'to  Mr.  Frazler's.     We  met  here 

with  twenty  warriors,  who  were  going  to  the  southward   to  war, 

but  coming  to  a  place  on  the  head  of'the  Great  Keidiawa,  where 

they  found  seven  peojjle  killed  and  scalped,  (all  but  one  woman 

■with  ve]-y  light  hair),  they  turned  about  and  ran  back,  for  fear 

the  iidiabitants  should  rise  and  take  them  as  the  authors  of  the 

murder.    They  report  that  the  bodies  were  lying  about  the  house, 

and  some  of  them   much  torn  and  eaten  by  t1ie  ho<?s.     By  the 

marks  wliich  were  b.-ft.  they  say  they  were  Fj-ench  In"aians  of  the 

*  Ottawa  nation  who  did  it. 

As  we  intended  to  take  horses  here,  and  it  re:iuired  some  time 
to  find  them,  T  weiit  np  aliout  three  miles  to  the  mouth  of  You- 
ghiogany,  to  visit  Queen  Aliquippa,  who  had  expressed  great 
concern  that  we  passed  her  in  going  to  the  fort.  I  made  her  a 
present  of  a  watch-coat  and  a  bottle  of  rum,  which  latter  was 
thought  much  the  better  present  of  the  two. 

TUESDAY,  THE  FIRST  OF  JANUARY. 

We  left  Mr.  Frazier's  house  and  arrived  at  Mr.  Gist's,  at  Mo- 
nongaliela,*'  the  2d,  where  I  bought  a  horse  and  saddle.  The 
6th,  we  met  seventeen  horses,  loaded  with  materials  and  stores 
for  a  fort  at  die  fork  of  the  Oh.io,  and  the  day  after,  some  fami- 
lies going  out  to  settle.  Tliis  day  we  arrived  at  Will's  Creek,  af- 
ter as  fatiguing  a  journey  as  it  is  possible  i"o  conceive,  rendered 
■so  by  exressive  bad  weather.  From  the  1st  day  of  December  to 
the  ]5tb,  there  was  but  one  day  on  wliicli  it  did  not  rain  or  snow 
incessantly;  and  tliroughout  the  whole  journey  we  met  with 
Nothing  ])ut  one  continued  series  of  cold,  wet  weather,  which  oc- 
casioned very  uncomfortable  lodgings,  especially  after  we  had 
quitted  our  tent,  which  was  some  screen  from  the  inclemency 
of  it. 

On  the  11th  I  got  to  Belvoir,  where  I  stopped  one  day  to  take 
necessary  rest,  and  tlien  set  out  and  arrived  in  Williamsburg  the 
16tli,  when  I  waited  upon  his  Honor  the  Governor  with  the  let- 
ter I  had  brought  from  the  Fren;!h  commandant,  and  to  give  an 
account  v''  le  success  of  my  proceedings.  This  I  l)eg  leave  to 
do  by  oftt'  5  c  ^he  foregoing  narrative,  as  it  contains  the  most 
remarkable  occurrences  which  happened  iii  my  journey. 


30  Monongahel  '  to  Iw  from  tlieSbawncc  Mehmonawiinirchelak,  Falling 
in-bii.  '<  Rivw  Alicgliary,  the  name  of  the  other  branch  of  llic  Ohio,  is  Irt> 
quois,     '!  signifies  •' LoUrwater." 


Governor  Dlnviddie' s  Letter.  29 

I  hope  "  lat  lias  been  said  will  be  sufficient  to  make  your 
Honor  satisried  with  my  conduct,  for  that  was  my  aim  in  under- 
taking the  journey,  and  chief  study  throughout  the  prosecution 
of  it. 

Letier  of  Goverxok  Dinwiddik,  of  YikginiAj  to  the  French 
■   Commandant  ox  the  Ohio, 

Sir: — The  lands  upon  the  River  Ohio,  in  the  wester.)  ]jarts  of 
the  Colony  of  Virginia,  are  so  notoriously  known  to  be  the  prop- 
erty of  the  crown  of  Great  Bi-itain  that  it  is  a  matter  of  equal 
concern  and  surprise  to  me  to  hear  that  a  body  of  French  forces 
are  erecting  fortresses  and  making  settlements  upon  thar  river 
within  his  JMajesty's  dominions.  The  many  and  repeated  com- 
plaints I  have  received  of  these  acts  <>f  hostility  lay  me  under 
the  neceshity  of  sending,  in  tlie  name  of  the  king,  my  master, 
the  bearer  liereof,  George  Washington,  Esq.,  one  of  the  adju- 
tants-general of  the  forces  of  this  dcuninion,  to  compliiin  to  you 
of  the  encroachments  thus  made  and  <jf  the  injuries  done  to  the 
subjects  of  Great  Britain,  in  violation  of  the  law  of  nations  and 
the  treaties  now  subsisting  between  the  two  crowns.  If  these 
facts  be  true,  and  you  think  lit  to  iustity  your  proceedings,  I 
must  desire  you  to  acquaint  me  by  wliose  authority  and  instruc- 
tions you  have  lately  marched  from  Canada  with  an  armed  force 
and  invaded  the  King  of  Great  Britain's  territories  in  die  man- 
ner complained  of,  that,  according  to  the  purpose  and  resohitiou 
of  your  answer,  I  may  act  agreeably  to  the  commission  1  am 
honored  with  from  the  king,  my  master.  However,  sir,  in  obe- 
dience to  my  instructions,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  reijuire  your 
peaceiible  departure,  and  that  you  will  forbear  ])rosecuting  a  pur- 
pose so  interruptive  of  the  harmony  and  good  understanding 
which  his  majesty  is  desirous  to  continue  and  cultivate  with  the 
most  Christian  king,  &c. 

Robert  Dixwidpie. 

Reply  of  LeGardeirde  St.  Pikhre  de  Repentigxv,  CoMMA?ii)ER 
OF  THE  French  Forces  on  the  Ohio,  to  Governor  Dinwidhie, 
OF  Virginia. 

Sir: — As  I  have  the  honor  of  commanding  here  in  chief,  Mr. 
Washington  delivered  to  me  the  letter  wliich  you  wrote  to  the 
commander  of  the  French  troops.  1  slmuld  have  been  glad  that 
you  had  given  him  orders,  or  that  lie  had  been  inclined,  t(»  i)ro- 
ceed  to  Canada  to  see  our  general,  to  wliom  it  better  l)elongs  than 
to  me  to  set  forth  the  evidence  and  the  reality  of  the  rights  of 
the  king,  my  master,  to  the  lands  situated  along  the  River  Ohio, 


30  ^        Hcphj  of  the  French  General. 

and  to  contest  the  pretensions  of  the  kino;  of  Great  Britain 
tliereto.  I  shall  transmit  your  letter  to  the  Marquis  Du  Quesne. 
His  answer  will  be  a  law  to  me.  And  if  lie  shall  order  me  to 
communicate  it  to  yon,  sir,  you  may  be  assured  I  shall  not  fail  to 
dispatch  it  forthwith  to  you.  As  to  the  summons  you  send  nie 
to  retire,  I  do  not  think  mvself  obliged  to  obey  it.  Whatever 
may  be  your  instructions,  I  am  here  by  virtue  of  the  orders  of 
my  general,  and  I  intreat  you,  sir,  not  to  doubt  one  moment  but 
that  I  am  determined  to  conform  myself  to  them  with  all  the 
exactness  and  resolution  which  can  be  expected  from  the  best 
officer.  I  do  not  know  that  in  tlie  proij^ress  of  this  campaign, 
anything  has  passed  which  can  be  reputed  an  act  of  hostility,  or 
that  is  contrary  to  the  treaties  which  sul)sist  between  the  two 
crowns,  the  continuation  whereof  as  much  interesteth  and  is  as 
pleasing  to  us  as  to- the  English.  Had  you  been  pleased,  sir,  tv 
have  descended  to  particularize  the  facts  which  occasioned  youi 
complaint,  I  should  have  had  the  honor  of  answering  you  in  the 
fullest,  and,  I  am  persuaded,  in  the  most  satisfactory  manner,  &c. 

Le  Gardeuk  de  St.  Px?:rke. 

From  the  fort  sur  la  Riviere  au  Bceuf, 
December  15,  1753. 


INDEX. 


PAGE.  1 

Abercromble,  Gen 9d 

Appointed   to    Command    the    English 

Forces  in  America 06 

Defeated  before  Fort  Ticonderoga 97 

Acadia S7 

Acadiaus  Removed 88 

Aloiiez 3:5 

American  Fur  Co 437,  418 

Its  Brunch  at  Chicago 3:i9 

American  Names,  Grummiir  of 474 

Amherst,  Maj.  Gen 96 

Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  English 

Forcec  in  America 10-2 

Bad  Axe,  Battle  of 399 

Bangiti 54 

Beaiijeu ^ 

Beaiibien?,  The 419 

Black  IlawK, 297,  874, 375,  377,  380,  39(»,  402 

Black  Partridge 273,  4:M 

Bloody  Run,  Battle  of 128 

Bouquet,  Gen 98 

Hie  Expedition  to  the  MuBklngum 137 

Boscawen,  Admiral 96 

Braddock,  Gen.,  Lands  in  Virginia 85 

Hlh  Defeat 87 

Bradstreet,  Gen.,  Takes  Fort  Frontenac. . .  98 

Relieves  Detroit t:i'j 

Brock,  Gen.  Isaac 267 

Backongahclas 164 

Bushy  Run,  Battle  of i:« 

<;ahi)kla  Settled 74 

Caldwell,  Billy 322 

Campbell,  Maj 124" 

Campus  Martins ...  198 

Caniula,  Its  Limits  Extended 16() 

Captives,  RentUlior  of 139 

Carpenter,  I'hilo,  his  Arrival  at  Chicago..  404 

Cass,  (ieu.  Lewis 267 

Cavelier 5<i,  flO,6:j,  65 

Cession  of  the  Northw  »t  to  the  U.  S 188 

Champlain,  Samuel  I) 21 

•Chicago,  Adjacent  Settlements  to 869 

Chartered  as  a  Village... 408 

Chartered  as  a  City *16 

Descrlptior.  of  In  !«:« 405 

Description  of  in  1834 4:51 

Early  Voting  at S67 

Enlargement  by  Wards 4:17 

French  Fort  bull',  at »' 

Harbor  Improv';ment  of 478 

Hut  built  at..  a» 


PAOB. 

Missionary  Station  at 67 

Names  of  its  First  Tax  Payers 3t>4 

Name  llrst  on  School  Atlases 3.")() 

Pioneer  Citizens  of *)8 

Seal  of 4  !4 

Surveyed  and  Platted ATu 

Convention  of  1800  at , 451 

Chicago  Fire 4.58 

Chicago,  the  Indian  Chief 158 

ChiUls,  E.,  his  Narrative  of  1821 348 

Cholera,  fThel  at  Chicago «...  ;i*J 

Clark,  .John  K 400 

Clark's  Conquest  of  Viucennes 1G7 

Cieaveland,  Moses 225 

Cleveland  Settled 227 

Clybouru,  Archibald 2:37 

Arrives  at  Chicago 355 

Clyboum  Family 2:J7 

Clybourn,  Mrs.    Archibald,    her  Reminis- 
cences    856 

Continental  Congress 103 

Convention  at  Albany 77 

Convention  of  1860 451 

Corbln,  Mrs.,  her  death 279 

Courts  Established  in  the  Northwest 193 

Crawford's  Expedition  to  Sandusky 181 

His  Death  by  Fire 183 

Cresap 161 

Croghan,    George 144 

Starts  for  the  Illinois  Country 145 

His  Journal 153 

Crown  Point 77 

Dalzell,  Capt 127 

Decrees  of  Berlin 252 

Repealed 255 

Pi'uonville 54 

Dr  t  ro  1 1 M 

Settled 71 

Attacked  by  the  Foxes.. 73 

■  Besieged  by  Pontiac 121 

Hull's  Surrender  at 208 

Dixon's  Ferry 370 

Dieskau,  Baron,  Marches  against  Johnson..    89 

Is  Defeated 80 

Dinwiddle,  Gov 79,  84 

Dulhut 44 

Duhant  Shisrts  La  Salle 59 

His  Death 88 

Dunmore,  Lord 161 

Earthquake  of  IHU «)0 

Elliot,  George ,. ISil 


11 


Index. 


PAGE. 

Embargo  Act 253 

English  on  the  Upper  Lakes.. 70 

English  Posts  on  the  Maumee  Captured. . .    78 

English  Colonics 76 

England  Declares  War  Against  Fiance 93 

English  Evacuate  Western  Posts 224 

English  Orders 253 

Engagee,  the 340,  338 

Factory  Sj-stem 344 

Five  Nations 21 

France  Declares  War  Against  England.  .      ?8 

Fort  Apple  River 395 

Port  Catarauqui 36 

Fort  Creve-Cocur 44 

Despoiled 47 

Fort  Chartres 74,  143 

FortBeggs 385 

Fort    Dearborn,    CommisijloRi'rs    Sent  to 

Locate  It 232 

Built 2;3:V 

Evacuated 275 

Re-built 329 

Otlicial  Record  of 441 

Last   Relics  of 44:1 

Fort  Duqueene 85 

Fort  Greenville 212 

Treaty  at  in  1793 218 

Fort  Hamilton '. 199 

Fort  Harrison 290 

Fort  Jeft'erson 190 

Fort  Knox 198 

Fort  Le  Boeuf 79 

Fort  Laurens 177 

Fort.  Madison 250 

Fort  Meigs  Built  on  the  Muiimee :W 

Besieged  by  the  British 309 

English  Retreat  from Sll 

Fort  Mcintosh IVfi 

Fort  Miamis 47 

Fort  Necessity,  .Siege  of 83 

Port  Niagara  taken  by  th--  English 103 

Fort  Payne :«6 

Fort  Pitt 130 

Relieved  by  tJen.  Bouquet 133 

Fort  Presque  Isle    79 

Fort  Steuben 198 

Fort  Stephenson 313 

Fort  St.  Louis 53 

Fort  Washington 191 

Fort  Wayne  Built 218 

Ber  'egtd 290 

Relieved 293 

Fort  William  Henry,  Slaughter  at 95 

Franklin,  Benj 86 

His  Controversy  with  (iov.  Denny 82 

Anecdote  of iJOO 

For'-e,  Gen 96 

Ta"*  s  Fort  DuQuesne 101 


FAGB.. 

Foxes,  The 72 

Frontenac . . .. 35 

Restored  to  the  Governorship  of  Canada    70 

Gage,  Gen.,  at  Braddock's,  Defeat 8T 

Gallowy,  James 352 

Galea,  Capt.,  at  Braddock's  Defeat 86 

Genet,  Minister  from  the  French  Republic.  210 

Girty,  Simon 163 

Gist,  Christopher 78 

Gladwin,  Gen 120 

Grammar  of  American  Names^ 474 

Grant,  Maj lOO 

Griffin,  The.  Sails  up  the  Lakes 38 

Greenville,  Treaty  at,  in  1795 218 

Second  Treaty  at 325 

Ghent,  Negotiations  at 323 

Hall,  Benjamin 237 

Hall,  David 337 

Half  King 79* 

Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  a])poiuted  Governor 

of  Indiana  Territory 230- 

Holds  Council  with  Tecumseh 246' 

Fights  the  Battle  of  Tippecanoe 34* 

Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  North- 
western Army 304 

Defends  Fort  Meigs 309 

Invades  Canada 31S 

Fights  the  Battle  of  the  i"hamc~^ 319 

Heald,  Capt 260 

Evacuates  Fort  Dearborn 274 

Heckvvelder,  John 175 

Helm,  Lieut.,  Wounded  at  Chicago  Mas- 
sacre  285 

Helm,  Mrs.,  Saved  by  Black  Partridge 276 

Hennepin  JJent  to  Vpper  Mississiiipi 40 

III  Captivity 41 

Returns  to  Canada 44 

Henry,  Alexander 122: 

Hiens eS' 

Holt,  Mrs.,  at  the  Chicago  Massacre 279' 

Hopkins,  Gen.,  his  Expedition  to  Illinois.  2!W 
Hulihard,  Gurdon  S.,  arrives  at  Chicago  . .  :i4(> 

Hudson  Bay  Co.,  The ;J3t>. 

Hudson  River  Explored 21 

Huron  Lake  Discovered 31 

Hull,  Gen 357 

Reaches  Detroit 369 

Surrenders  Detroit 288 

Iberville  enters  the  Mississippi 66 

Illinois  Tribes  first  Mentioned 28 

Their  Principal  Villages 27 

Illinois  Territory  Organized 34B 

Illinois,  State  of,  Admitted  into  the  Unlim.  mi 

Illinois  an;  Michigan  Canal  Located 36;i 

Indian  Creek,  Massacre  at 383 

Indian  Houses 3455 

Indian  Names,  their  Origin  and  Derivation.  475 
Indiana  Territory  Organized. 230- 


Index. 


Ill 


PAGE. 

Its  Census  in  1810 344 

Iroquois,  Tlie TO 

Jay,  John,  his  Mission  to  England 217 

HiK  Treaty  of  1794 SW 

Johufon,  Gen 85 

Defeats  the  French  at  the  Head  of  LaLe 

George 90 

Takes  Fort  Niagara 103 

Joiiel 24 

With  Marquette  at  Chicago  in  16T:3 28 

Jontel .55 

Kaskasliia  Settled 74 

KelloKg's  Grove,  Battle  of 396 

KInzie,  James 2:^8 

K'uzie,  John,  his  first  Marrin're 2:iH 

Hie  second  Marriage 2:17 

His  arrival  at  Chicago 238 

Bent  as  War  Prleoner  with  liic  Faniily  to 

Detroit 284 

Returns  to  Chicago 330 

His  Death 366 

Ivinzie,  John  H 261 

Kinzies,  The 420 

La  Barre 5:} 

La  Mai  at  Chicago 228 

Latrohe,   Charles    G.,   his  Destriptioii  of 

Indian  Treaty  at  Chinigo 411 

Xa  Salle  Builds  a  Fort  at  Niagara 37 

Reaches  the  St.  Josepli 38 

Builds  Fort  Creevc  Cceur  on  the  illiuois.  39 

Retnms  to  Canada 44 

Reaches  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. . .  51 

Reaches  Texas 55 

Is  Assassinated .59 

His  Death  Revenged 62 

Lead  Trade 141 

Leaden  Plates  Buried '  77 

Lee"B  Place,  Massacre  at 262 

liittlc  Turtle 197 

Defeats  St.  Clair 200 

^is  Defeat 214 

At  Philadelphia 22:5 

His  Death 234 

Xouisa  St.  Clair 198 

Logau 161 

His  Speech 162 

Logstnwn 77 

Loudon,  Lord 91 

Iiouishnrgh  Destroyed 9H 

IjOiiisiana 51 

Purchased  by  the  United  States 231 

liora^nies'  Store .  77 

Murietta  Settled -,87 

JUarquutte  Discovers  the  Mlssisfippi 34 

Wiiiters  at  Chicago 29 

Starts  for  Canada 30 

Dies  ou  tlie  Way 30 

£l8  Remains  Removed  to  St.  I)iuace....  80 


.     •-.  PAGE. 

Supposed  Reco%'ery  of  his  Bones 34 

Ilis  Journal 31 

Maumee,  English  Post  ^^n 77 

Maumec  Rapids,  English  Fort  B.iiltat 212 

Maumee  Rapids  occupied  the  Americans..  305 

McKee,  David.. 371 

HcKiu/ie,  Elizabeth 2'!5 

McKinzie,  Margaret 2:55 

Michilimacklnac  Settled 73 

Massacre  at . , 122 

Taken  l)y  the  English 260 

Mississipjii  River,  First  Tidings  of 22 

Discovered 24 

Monckton,  Gen 9'> 

Invades  Acadia 87 

Montcalm,  Gen.,  take.-*  Command  of  the 

French  For  es  in  America 92 

Takes  Oswego 9:J 

Takes  Fort  William  Henry 94 

Death  of Iu8 

Moravian  Missions 175 

New  Orleans ...  141 

Naperville 384 

New  France,  its  Limits 7H 

Newspaper,  the  first  at  Chicago 421 

Murray,  Robt.  N 401 

Nika ,. 44 

HisDeath .'..' 58 

Northern  Illinois,  its  ci'ssii>u  by   the   In- 
dians    415 

Ohio  Company 73 

Ohio  River,  Ainericniis  Commence  a  Fort 

at 82 

Oliver,  Capt.  William,  takes  a  Message  to 

Fort  Meigs 310 

OjibwaGiri 120 

Ouilmette 239 

Peace  Council  with  Little  Turtle 201 

Peace  with  England 184 

Payne,  Rev.  Adam 392 

His  Death 2SR 

Pecatonica,  Battle  of 397 

Perry's  Victory 816 

Peoria  as  a  French  Village 250 

Attacked  by  Aniericans 29tt 

Poirot,  Nicholas HA 

Pictured  Rocks 25 

Pitt,  Appointed  Premier  of  Kngland 94 

Point  I'leasant,  Battle  of 161 

Pcmtiac 112 

His  Conspiracy 118 

His  Strategemto  take  the  Fortat  Detroit.  131) 

His  Victory  over  ClMjit.  Dalzell 128 

Makes  iPeace 1.57 

Is  Assassinat.'d 158 

Post  Christian  Frederic 99 

Post  OtMce  at  Chicago 445 

Pottowattomiee SBl 


IV 


Index. 


PAGE. 

Bemoved  from  Chicago 416 

Prairie  du  Chiu u 293 

Taken  by  the  British 321 

Prideaux,  Gen.,  Attaclvs  Fort  Niagara IftB 

Proctor,  Gen 265 

Prophet,  (The)  of  Tecumsoh 243 

His  Indiscretion 247 

Quebec  Settled 20 

Taken  by  the  Eii^'lish 108 

Eed  Jacket,  his  Speech —    226 

Eej-nolds,  Gov.  of  lllinoi^',  his  experience 

as  a  Soldier 294 

Bight  of  Search 25.S 

River  Raisin,  Battle  of 306 

Eobinsou,  Alexander 28.'3 

Reminiscences  of  him 42.5 

Rogers.  Jlaj.  Robert,  his  Mission Ill 

Takes  possession  of  Detwit 11.5 

Ronan  Ensign  at  the  Chicago  Massacre  .. .  277 

Russell,  Col.  J.  B.  F 416 

Sacs  and  Foxes 378 

San-ga-nash,  (The)  saves  Prisoners  at  the 

Chicago  Massacre 283 

Scott,  Gen.  Winfleld,  ordered  to  Chi'-.ago..  387 

Encamps  on  the  DesPlaim.'s 401 

Scott,  Col.,  his  Expedition  to  the  Wabash.  196 

Schenectady  Burned 70 

Shaliouee    360,  427 

Shelby,  Gov.,  joins  Harrison 317 

Shirley,  Gen 85 

Marches  against  ^Niagara 89 

Shingis 1*2 

Sioux,  The 22 

Slaves  in  Illinois 141 

Snow,  Geo.  W.,  his  arrival  at  Chicago. . .   .  404 

St.  Ange 157 

St.  Anthony's  Falls 4;3 

StaiTcdRock 53 

St.  Clair  appointed  Governor  of  the  North- 
west Territory 190 

Invades  the  Indian  Country 193 

Is  Defeated  by  Little  Turtle 200 

Steam-boat,  first  on  Western  Waters 250 

Steam  Engine,  the  first  made 410 

Sterling,   Capt.,  takes  English  possession 

of  Fort  Chartres 155 

St.  lldefonso,  Treaty  of 142 

Stillman's  Defeat 382 

St.  Lawrence  River  E.'cplored 20 

St.  Joseph  River 38 

St.  Joseph  taken  by  Volunteers  from  the 
French  Settlements  of  Illinois 166 

Taken  by  the  Spanish  from  St.  Lonis \\j, 

Indian    Council  at 244 

St  Louis  Settled 142 

Attacked  by  the  English  and  Indians. ..  174 
St.  Marie,  Falls  of,  Reached 21 

This  Volume  contains  568  pages 


,OE. 
19f? 
105 
39:j 
189 
2:i3. 
21 

291 

24.3^ 

245 

320 

104 

24S 

.319 

64 

345 

411 

4a5 

Si 

37 

17l> 

66 

74 

22^i 


Spanish  Intrigues 

Stobo,  Maj.  Robert 8:J, 

St.  Vrain,  Death  of 

Surveys,  Public 

Swcaringtou,  James  & 

Superior  Lake  Reached 

Taylor,  Capt.  Zachary  defends  Fort  Har- 
rison  

Tecumseh  attempts    to  form    an    Indian 

Confederacy 

Visits  Harrison  at  Vincenues 

Death  of 

Ticonderoga  blown  up 

Tippecanoe,  Battle  of 

Thames,  Bittle  of....'.   

Tonty 38,  .50,  .W, 

Treaty  of  1816  at  Chicago 

Treaty  of  18;i5  at  Chicago 

Valedictory 

Van  Bnnim,  Jacob 

Vessel,  First  on  the  Lakes 

Vigo,  Francis 

Vincennes  

Settled 

Volney,  his  interview  with  Little  Turtle. . . 
War    Declared    against    England  by    the 

United  States 256 

Washington,  Maj.  at  Braddock"s    Defeat..    87 

Receives  gi'ant  of  land  on  the  Ohio 77 

Ilis  Mission  to  the  Ohio 79 

His  Diary  on  a  Tour  to  the  Ohio  in  1753, 
Pages  1  to  ;»  at  the  end  of  the  book. 
Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony,  appointed  to  Com- 
mand the  Western  Troops 301 

Marches  against  the  Indians 212 

His  Victory 214 

Weld,  Isaac,  his  statement 215 

Wells,  Capt.  Wm.  Wayne,  comes  to  the 

Rescue  of  Fort  Dearborn 273 

His  Death 279 

Western  Reserve  Ceded 242 

Whistler,  Capt.  John 33:i 

Whistler,  Maj.  Wra 388 

Whistler,  Mrs.  Wm 2:39 

White  Cloud,  the  Prophet. 379 

Wnite  Eyes 164 

Wi Ikinsons'  Expedition 196 

Winamac 344 

Winnebago  Scare ' 3.58 

Winslow,  John ..   87 

Wiunebagoes,  The 373 

Williams,  Eli  B.,  his  arriva;  at  Ch'rago...  409 

Wiscous.n  Heights,  Battle  of 398 

Wolfe,  Gei 96 

Before  Quebec 104 

V  ctory  on  tbe  Heights  of  Abraham. . .  .  108 
Woi\e  Point 424 

\cluding  ili.istrations. 


